


Suprise Revelations

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: 33.1, AU, Bestest Cousins, F/M, Friendship, Green Arrow - Freeform, Human Experimentation, JLA - Freeform, Missions, Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 41,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24190651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Chloe is living in DC, going to school and working as Mrs. Kent’s assistant when she meets Oliver through the senator and they find out they have a lot more in common than they could ever have imagined.
Relationships: Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan, Lois Lane & Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe checked on the clock on her phone and took a deep, turning it to vibrate and adjusting the documents on the desk before setting her phone face down beside them. She adjusted her skirt, pulling it down a little more then checking her reflection on the window to make sure she looked decent before nodding a little.

Now she just had to wait and stop herself from pacing.

A moment later there was a knock on the office door.

She held her breath and stood up straight, stepping around the table, “come in,” she called.

The door opened and Oliver Queen stepped into the office, offering her an easy smile as he shut the door behind him. “You must be Senator Kent’s assistant?” he guessed, raising his eyebrows a little. 

“Chloe Sullivan,” she introduced herself, smiling as she held out her hand to him, he was even more gorgeous in person, “thank you for coming, Mr. Queen.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, shaking her hand as his gaze swept over her quickly. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Sullivan.” 

“Nice meeting you too,” she said politely, holding her breath, “would you like something to drink?”

“Just water would be great, thank you.” He held her gaze.

Chloe nodded slightly, making her way to the tray at the corner and pouring him a glass of water before walking over to him again and holding it out, “Have a seat,” she offered then relaxed a little when she didn’t drop the glass, “Mrs. Kent is incredibly sorry she wasn’t able to meet with you, she got called in last minute.”

“Oh.” A moment of surprise registered on his face and he pursed his lips a little before taking the seat she offered, as well as the glass. “Well, that happens sometimes.” 

“Oh,” she echoed, “I’m sorry, you didn’t get the message?”

“Probably because I was on the jet.” He smiled a little and took a drink. “But I’m assuming you’re going to fill in for her?” 

“If you don’t mind. She didn’t want to waste your time, but she offered to schedule a second appointment for later in the day if you need.” Chloe told him, keeping her eyes on him, it was hard not to.

“I don’t mind,” he assured her, reaching into his briefcase and pulling out a notepad and pen. 

Chloe arched her eyebrows a little and watched him then walked around the desk and took a seat on Mrs. Kent’s chair. “She left all the contracts and agreements with me, as well as a copy if you need someone to go over them before signing.” 

“Well, it sounds like Senator Kent’s pretty well prepared.” He smiled at her.

“She usually is,” Chloe smiled back, “and your interest does mean a lot to her, Mr. Queen. Considering the men in power in our state, having your support will really give us the push we need to get out from under their shadow.”

He paused at that, glancing up from his notepad. “I’m assuming you mean the Luthor’s?” 

“Yes,” she nodded, she had read the documents and the notes Mrs. Kent had made for her talk with Oliver Queen, she had known her points and she planned on using them. Of course Chloe herself had done all the research for said points so that made it easier, “I don’t mean to be blunt but the only way we can go up against them is with someone who is as powerful as they are.” 

Oliver pursed his lips, studying her for a long moment. “I’ve gone over the senator’s preliminary proposals, and liked where she was going with it. May I see the finalized ones?” 

“Of course,” she nodded, reaching for one of the piles on the desk and handing them to him, “take your time.”

He offered her a small smile as he took the stack from her and began to read over them, intent and focused even as he sipped his glass of water. 

She watched him for a moment then forced herself to look away, getting back up to refill her mug with more coffee and to give him some privacy. He wasn’t really what she had expected, he seemed approachable despite how gorgeous he was, which was rarely the case with guys who looked that good.

He also seemed to be sincerely interested in this, which for someone with as much power as he had, shouldn’t really affect him at all, especially since he was from California, which intrigued her even more, she couldn’t help but wonder _why_ he was interested.

“This looks good,” he said after about a half-hour, finally looking up at her again. “I do want to have my attorney go over it one last time before I sign, but I see no reason this can’t be finalized today.” 

Her heart skipped a beat as she focused on him once more, having resumed her seat moments earlier, “of course, if you want to bring the copies with you, I can come by later with the originals for you to sign, or like I said, Mrs. Kent is open to setting up a meeting if you prefer.”

He offered her a genuine smile. “That’d be great. The first part. I don’t necessarily have to meet with Senator Kent. I’m sure she’s a busy lady.” 

“Absolutely, let me get you an envelope,” Chloe said smiling mostly because she couldn’t stop herself as she reached into one of the drawers.

He watched her, then reached out to take the manila envelope from her, sliding the papers inside. Once he was through he found himself gazing at her again. There was something so damn _familiar_ about her, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. “This is going to sound like a bizarre question, but have we met before?” He cocked his head to the side.

Chloe blinked a couple of times at the question, it was definitely odd. She shook her head, “I’m pretty sure I would have remembered and I have been living in a very small town for the past few years, so I don’t think so.” She said with a slightly awkward smile.

“Oh. So you’re not from DC then?” he asked curiously, raising his eyebrows. 

“No,” she said, smiling a little more, “I’m originally from Metropolis, but I was living in the same town as Mrs. Kent, called Smallville.” She paused, “why did you ask?”

Oliver nodded, smiling a bit. “That explains it. You didn’t really seem like a small town kind of woman,” he admitted. 

She nodded, not missing the fact that her own question went unanswered, times like this were hard to keep her inner reported from asking again, “city girl at heart.”

“You seem familiar somehow, but...” He shook his head. “I’m fairly certain you’re right. I would’ve remembered you, too.” 

Chloe arched her eyebrows at the comment and pursed her lips together, she had heard he was a flirt but he actually sounded sincere, “thank you,” she smiled, unsure of what else to say, “are you staying nearby?”

He nodded. “There’s a hotel a couple blocks from here. The JW Marriott,” he told her with a soft smile. 

“Right, on Pennsylvania, I know where it is,” she nodded then picked up one of Mrs. Kent’s cards and scribbled her name and number on the back before holding it out to him, “if you want to call me or let your attorney call me when he’s done, I’ll come by.”

“All right, thank you. Will do.” He took the card from her, sliding it into his briefcase and shutting it.

She hesitated then stood up, smiling sincerely, “thank you again for coming, Mr. Queen, I’ll update Mrs. Kent as soon as she is out of the meeting.”

“You’re welcome. Please thank her for including me and inviting me.” He held his hand out to her once more.

“I will,” she nodded, taking his hand, feeling a lot more relaxed than she had when he first came in.

He shook her hand again, holding her gaze for a moment, then turned and headed for the door.

Chloe watched as he walked away, not realizing she’d been holding her breath until he walked out of the room. She would definitely not mind working overtime if it meant being around that man again, there was definitely something magnetic about him.

* * * 

It had been a busy afternoon and evening for Oliver. He’d spent the evening going over Martha Kent’s proposals with his attorney over dinner, and then alone in his hotel room going over maps of the city. It had been quite awhile since he’d spent any real amount of time in DC, and he wanted to make sure he knew the layout as well as he could before donning the green leather and patrolling the streets. He was, after all, a long way from home. But DC was one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country, and he wanted to help out while he was there. 

But before he could do that, he knew he needed to get back in touch with Senator Kent’s assistant, so he picked up the phone and dialed the number on the business card she’d given him, waiting.

Chloe frowned when her phone started vibrating on the table, she picked it up and looked at the caller ID, when it was a private number, she frowned but answered anyway, could be important, even though it was past ten at night, “hello?” She answered, covering her other ear due to the noise and got up, starting to the door. 

Oliver raised his eyebrows a little at the background noise. “Ms. Sullivan? It’s Oliver Queen.” 

“Oh,” her eyes widened and she hurried outside, “Mr. Queen, hi,” She said once the noise level was much lower.

“Hello,” he greeted with a small smile. 

“Hi, sorry, it was kinda loud. What can I do for you?” She asked, arching her eyebrows, she hoped he was calling with good news. 

“I was wondering when you might be able to stop by with the original proposals so I can sign them.” He sat back in his chair. 

Chloe let out a breath at that, “whenever is convenient for you, I can be there in a few minutes, or I can stop by tomorrow if you prefer.”

“Tonight’s...” His voice trailed off as he caught sight of the time on the clock across the room and his eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was. I’m afraid I’m still running on California time.” 

She couldn’t help but smile, “that’s okay, I’m still out anyway,” she told him, “I just need to swing by the office to get the papers and I can probably be there in about... fifteen minutes or so?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll meet you down in the lounge?” he offered. 

“That works,” she nodded, glancing back inside, “I will see you soon, Mr. Queen.”

“All right. See you soon,” he agreed.

Chloe hung up then took a deep breath, quickly making her way back inside the school paper’s office to grab her things and leave, she couldn’t wait to get this done.

* * * 

Oliver was standing at the lobby of the JW Marriott when he watched the little red car pull up. He raised his eyebrows a little at the sight of the beetle. He hadn’t pegged her for driving one of those. Interesting. He watched as she climbed out of the car and then he headed outside, walking toward her car and offering her a smile. “Thanks for coming.”

“Hi,” she said, surprised to see him waiting for her outside, “I’m glad you called, I hope I didn’t make you wait long.” 

“Not at all,” he assured her. 

“I got everything,” she told him, smiling as she raised the envelope a little. 

“Great.” He smiled at her, reaching out to take the envelope. “Why don’t we go inside and I’ll get these signed?” 

Chloe nodded and smiled back at him, following him, “Mrs. Kent will be glad to hear the news.”

“How long have you been working with the senator?” he asked, glancing at her as he held the door open for her.

“Since the election,” she told him, “after Mr. Kent passed away, she was determined to take the position for him.” 

He pursed his lips at that, nodding. “Apparently determination runs in the family.” 

Chloe smiled softly and nodded too, “and I think it really helped her get through everything. Focus on something else.”

“Sometimes that’s what it takes,” he agreed quietly, leading her toward the small dining area in the back. “Are you hungry?”

She arched her eyebrows at that, holding her breath, she had completely forgotten to have dinner and now that he mentioned it, she was hungry but she didn’t know if he was just being polite. “You haven’t eaten yet?”

“I ate a few hours ago,” he admitted. “But I was thinking of having something.” 

“I could have a snack,” she agreed quietly, nodding and smiling softly. 

He smiled back at her without hesitation. “Great. It’s always good to have company.” 

Chloe paused, considering his words even as she followed him, “do you usually travel by yourself?”

“Usually,” he said, nodding a little as a waiter escorted them to a quiet table across the room. 

She waited until they were sitting down to continue the conversation, “that doesn’t sound like fun, but I guess most of your traveling is business related?”

He picked up his glass of water and took a sip, nodding again. “Yeah, almost always,” he confessed. “My attorney came along this time, but between you and me, he’s a bit old and stuffy. He was probably in bed three hours ago.” His voice was light.

She smiled at that and shook her head, “yeah, that isn’t the ideal travel companion.”

His lips curled upwards. “No. He’s a nice guy, though. And he knows what he’s doing, which is definitely helpful.” 

“At least he is good at his job, which I’m sure is the reason why you brought him.”

Oliver nodded a little as he pulled the documents from the envelope. “He is that.” 

She got quiet for a moment then reached inside her purse and pulled out a pen, holding it out to him, “if you need this.”

He smiled, reaching out and taking it from her. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she told him, sitting back against her chair and giving time to re-read anything he might want to.

He scanned over the documents, pausing long enough to order a salad and a cup of mixed fruit, then finished reading. He scrawled his signature across the papers that required them, slid them back into the envelope and slid it across the table to her, recapping the pen and handing it back, too. 

“Thank you,” she said as she took the pen and the envelope, “I’ll go back by the office once I leave and drop it off on her desk.”

He smiled softly. “Great.” 

“How long are you in town for?” She asked curiously. 

“Just a couple of days. I have a few other meetings to go to while I’m here.” He shifted in his chair. “Do you like the city?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded, sitting up, “I like it a lot, I missed being in a big city while I was living in Smallville,” she admitted, “do you?”

“It’s an interesting city,” he agreed, nodding. “I like to visit the museums when I have time.” 

“I do too,” she smiled nodding at him, “I still haven’t had the time to see all of them. Do you have a favorite?”

He cocked his head to the side, considering for a moment. “The International Spy Museum.” He flashed her a grin, shrugging a little. 

Chloe paused then grinned arching her eyebrows, “that’s my favorite so far, too.” She said, surprised that he would have chosen that one.

“Really?” He arched his eyebrows, as well, intrigued. 

“Yeah, I was dying to go there, it was the first one I went to.” She said, blushing slightly, “it’s smaller than most others but it’s really interesting, all the things they were able to do and get away with.” 

Oliver grinned. “Yeah, it is really interesting,” he agreed, nodding as he sat forward a little in his chair. 

“Did you do the mission?” She asked curiously, smiling up at him. 

He offered her a sheepish grin. “It’s entirely possible. Did you?” 

She grinned shyly and nodded slightly, looking down then back at him, “twice.”

“It was fun.” His eyes were bright as he gazed at her. “So you’re an adventuress type?” 

“Well, that kind of adventure,” she said, “the whole, hiking, camping type isn’t my thing though.”

He smiled a little. “What about canoeing and rock climbing?” 

“Not so much a nature person,” she admitted, grinning softly, “do you like that kind of adventure?”

“Right, big city girl,” he said with a nod. “I’ll try anything once.” He grinned back.

“Well, what have you tried that you would want to try again?” She asked, cocking her head and smiling at him.

“There is a certain rush that comes from hang-gliding and white water rafting.” 

She held her breath at that, the way he said it almost made her want to try those things, “rafting doesn’t sound too bad.”

He grinned. “You should try it sometime.” 

“I might,” she shrugged, smiling softly, “maybe when I’m back in Kansas, something tells me I would freeze here.”

Chuckling involuntarily, he nodded. “Maybe someplace like California. It’s pretty cold in Kansas, too.” 

“it’s not that bad,” she grinned a little, “I’m kind of looking forward to having a winter here.”

“Really? Fan of the cold weather?” 

“I like it, but I never really had a winter as bad as it usually is here, so I might change my mind by January, I’m guessing you’re not?”

“California guy,” he admitted. “Not a big fan of the cold.” 

Chloe nodded and smiled at him, “makes sense,” she admitted, sitting back on her chair, just then noticing how relaxed she felt.

He sat back, too, still smiling at her as he held her gaze. 

She smiled back at him then looked down and back, “do you have anything else planned for the rest of your trip? Other than the meetings you mentioned, I mean.” She didn’t want him to think she hadn’t been paying attention.

“No, not really,” he admitted, shaking his head a little, and pausing. “Do you have a lot of plans the next couple days?” 

That made her pause too, “hm, not really.” She lied, between work for Mrs. Kent, the school newspaper and classes, she barely had time to breathe, “mostly work.”

Oliver considered that for a moment. “I don’t suppose you’d want to have dinner with me tomorrow?” 

Chloe stilled at that and sat up a little, “dinner?”

He raised his eyebrows, nodding. “Yeah.” 

Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at him, she should politely decline because the man was intoxicating just to talk to, she knew he was probably no good to be around but... he lived hours away in California, it wasn’t like she would have to be around him all the time, or probably, ever again. And she would probably never be able to say again that Oliver Queen wanted to have dinner with her. “Sure,” she said finally, her voice a lot less certain than she hoped it’d sound.

Oliver hesitated. “Was that inappropriate?” he asked uncertainly. “I promise there aren’t any strings attached. It won’t effect my supporting Senator Kent’s campaign in any way.” 

“Right,” she blinked, looking down then back at him. Of course she would have contact with him, he was backing up her _boss_ , “I- it wasn’t inappropriate but maybe, it could complicate things.”

“Having dinner could complicate things?” He raised his eyebrows a little. 

“Right,” she said again, feeling embarrassed, “no. I guess. Just dinner wouldn’t.”

“It’s up to you,” he said quietly. “If it makes you uncomfortable, I understand.” 

“No,” she said quietly then shrugged, “you’re nice to talk to,” Chloe admitted, this time sincerely.

He relaxed a little again, meeting her eyes. “So are you,” he agreed.

She smiled at that and looked down then back at him, “thank you.”

“My last meeting should be done no later than six,” he told her. “What time would you like to do dinner?” 

“Hm,” she paused and blinked, trying to think, “is tomorrow Friday?”

He smiled a little at that. “I think so,” he teased.

“Sorry,” she blushed, grinning softly and shaking her head, “just trying to remember the Senator’s schedule, but I think after seven should be okay.”

He grinned back at her. “We can tentatively say 7ish, but if it turns out you need to go later, just send me a text and let me know.” He jotted down his cell number on the back of his business card and slid it across to her.

“Thank you,” she smiled and took the card, “I will.”

“You’re welcome.” He leaned back in his chair, soft smile still on his face. 

Chloe held her breath as she watched him for a moment then let it out as she sat back down against her chair, she had no idea what was going on, but this guy was definitely dangerous.


	2. Chapter 2

  


Lois hopped up on the counter in her kitchen at the Talon and balanced the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she pried open a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. “Come on, Chloe, pick up,” she mumbled. 

“Hey Lo,” she answered a moment later, a little distracted.

“Oh, thank God.” 

“What’s wrong?” Chloe frowned, sitting up on her bed and turning her attention away from her laptop.

“Just the latest in the Clark and Lana Saga.” She rolled her eyes. “I needed some sanity in my life, so I called you.”

“Oh,” she relaxed a little, “I don’t know if I’m the best source for sanity, but at least, I understand what you mean.”

“Yeah, I knew you would.” She sighed. “How’s DC?” 

“Busy,” she said, sitting up and pursing her lips together, “I met Oliver Queen yesterday.” She told Lois before she could stop herself.

Lois’s eyebrows furrowed a little. “Who?” 

“Oliver Queen?” Chloe frowned, “head of Queen Industries? Has more money than God and isn’t evil like the Luthors?”

“Not ringing a bell.” She shrugged. 

“Nevermind, google him when you have a chance,” Chloe said, shaking her head a little, “he is helping Mrs. Kent.”

“Oh. Well, anyone helping Mrs. K is okay in my book. So richer than God and not evil? Are you sure? Is that even possible?” 

“Considering my track record, no, but that’s my first impression anyway. He already signed the contract agreeing to help and everything.”

“Well, that’s a plus, right?” 

“Definitely,” Chloe nodded, shifting on the bed, “so what is going on with Clark and Lana?” She really didn’t want to know, but she figured Lois needed to vent.

“Oh, they broke up again. And guess who Princess Pinkie is dating _now_?” 

Chloe stilled at that and arched her eyebrow, “who?”

“Lex.” 

“ _What_?” Chloe gasped, “you’re kidding.”

“If only. So of course Smallville is even mopier than usual.” She sighed. 

“I was gonna ask...” she let out a breath, “how do you know she’s seeing Lex?”

“I sort of saw them together,” she admitted.

“And Clark already knows too?” She asked.

“I had to tell him. I mean, I couldn’t keep something like that a secret, Chlo!” 

Chloe winced at that, “I understand,” she said quietly, “and I hate to do this to you, but you will need to keep an eye on him for a while. A close eye.”

She sighed. “I am. He’s staying here.” She glanced toward the couch where he was plopped down.

“Really?” Chloe said, surprised, “did he tell Mrs. Kent yet?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s just temporary, I’m sure. You know, a night or two.” 

“No, Lois, I meant about Lana.” She said, “Mrs. Kent would probably want to see him at least if she knew.”

“Oh. Right.” She grimaced. “I don’t know.” She sighed softly.

“I’ll talk to her when I see her tomorrow,” Chloe said.

“All right. Give her a hug for me?” 

“I will and you give Clark one for me, I’m sure he could use it right now.” She sighed softly.

“I miss you,” Lois said, her voice dropping.

“I miss you too,” she said quietly, “you need to get out here and visit me soon.”

“Yeah. I’ll try,” she promised. “We can do like a girl’s weekend or something.” 

“Yeah,” Chloe agreed, smiling softly, “that would be nice.”

“All right. I’m about to try and feed him some ice cream and see if it helps. Wish me luck.” 

“Good luck and call me or text me if you need help or inspiration or just to vent,” she offered.

“I’ll probably talk to you again in twenty minutes,” Lois said with a smirk. 

Chloe grinned softly, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“See you later. Love you.” She hung up.

“Love you too,” Chloe murmured even though Lois had already hung up and sighed softly, shaking her head. She loved Lois and she loved Clark, but a tiny, selfish part of her, appreciated being away from Smallville right then. Besides, she knew her cousin had a crush on Clark and maybe, this would bring them closer together.

* * * 

Oliver had just made it back to his hotel room from his final meeting of the day when his phone began to ring. He shut the door and locked it before pulling the phone from his pocket and raising his eyebrows when he saw the caller ID that read, ‘Vic.’ 

Pressing it to his ear, he strode across the room, opening the fridge and grabbing out a bottle of water. “Hey, Vic. What’s up?” 

“You made the front page again.” Vic told him, smirking, “thought I’d let you know.” He said as Oliver’s computer booted up on its own.

Oliver blinked and looked at his laptop. “You realize it still creeps me out when you do that, right?” 

“You’re too slow,” Vic shrugged, pulling up the webpage for him, “take a look.”

Unscrewing the lid off his water bottle, he moved over to the desk and peered at the page, raising his eyebrows. “Well, at least it’ll keep people guessing.” He made a point of playing Green Arrow all over the globe, wherever he went, figuring it was a good idea in order to protect his regular identity. 

“I don’t know,” Vic said, “you keep showing up as Green Arrow wherever Oliver Queen is publicly known to be, someone will eventually be smart enough to make the connection.”

“I’ve considered that,” he admitted. “But most people believe the press about Oliver Queen and wouldn’t even think it possible.” 

“Most people.” He agreed, “just saying, might want to be careful.”

He smiled a little. “I’ll lay low tonight. Besides, I have a date.” 

“A date?” Victor smirked, “nice, who is it with?”

“Senator Kent’s assistant,” he admitted. “And I’m not sure it’s really a _date_ as it is dinner.” 

“Everything is a date with you,” he told him, “you should give Impulse some tips, the kid needs it bad.”

He smirked involuntarily at that. “Play nice.” 

“Just saying,” he told him, “planning on patrolling after your date?”

“No, like I said. I’ll lay low,” he assured Vic.

“Good idea,” he nodded, “besides, you might be busy, right?”

Oliver pursed his lips, raising his eyebrows a little at the implication. “I don’t think she’s that kind of woman.” 

“Yeah?” Vic asked, arching his eyebrows.

“Yeah. She was reluctant to agree to dinner,” he admitted. “But she’s good company, even if we just spend the time talking.” 

“Oh,” Vic nodded, “so you might be in trouble?”

He rolled his eyes. “Let’s not be dramatic. After tonight, I probably won’t see her again.” 

“You know what you do.” Vic shrugged, smirking more, “see you when you get back.”

Oliver shook his head a little. “See you,” he agreed, hanging up the phone.

* * * 

She had been able to make it at seven so she just texted him to let him know she would meet him at the hotel. They hadn’t really agreed on a place so she figured this would make things less uncomfortable than him picking her up. Besides, he was more central than she was. 

Chloe took a deep breath then made her way into the lobby, reaching for her phone to check if he had texted her already. 

And he had, but it was a simple, “See you then.” And he was already waiting for her across the lobby, reading a copy of the New York Times when he caught sight of her. He smiled and set the paper down, rising to his feet and moving over to greet her. “Hi.” 

She looked up from her phone and smiled when she saw him, “hey.” She greeted, sliding her phone back in her purse.

“How was your day?” He held her gaze, his focus solely on her.

“Not bad, busy,” she smiled, looking up at him and holding her breath a little, “yours?”

“Also busy,” he admitted with a soft smile. “But it helps the time pass faster. Are you hungry?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe nodded, smiling softly at him, “where do you wanna go?”

“Oh, anywhere’s fine with me. What sounds good?” 

“We have a few options within walking distance,” she offered, “there’s French, Italian and Thai.”

“Well, why don’t you pick?” he suggested. “I could go for any of those.” 

“French?” She told him, shrugging, “it has really good food.” 

“Sounds good to me.” He smiled a little, nodding.

“It’s not far, about two blocks, are you okay with that?” She asked, cocking her head.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Oliver assured her. “I don’t mind walking.” 

“Okay,” she agreed, nodding slightly as she adjusted her coat, “should we go, then?”

He nodded, as well, leading her toward the door and pulling it open for her. “Ladies first.” He smiled.

“Thanks,” she grinned softly at him and stepped outside, taking a deep breath before looking at him again.

“It’s cold, but at least there’s no wind. That makes it tolerable.” He smiled at her as he followed her out the door.

“Yeah, the windchill can be pretty terrible,” she nodded, arching her eyebrows, “but it’s only in the 50s.” 

He shrugged, giving her a sheepish grin. “California boy,” he reminded her, tone light.

“Right.” Chloe grinned softly and nodded, “at least it’s not January.”

“This is a good point.” He chuckled lightly, walking alongside her down the sidewalk.

“So, your meetings went okay?” She asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Yeah, they went fine. A little dull, but that’s pretty much the norm.” 

“Yeah, sounds like it. Do you work this weekend too?” She asked. 

“No, I’m off tomorrow and then I head home on Sunday,” he told her with a small smile. “Do you?” 

“Not with Mrs. Kent,” she told him, holding her breath. 

He cocked his head to the side. “You have work outside of all that?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“More like volunteer work? I write for the Howard U. paper.”

He glanced at her sideways. “Oh. Are you attending the University?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe nodded, arching her eyebrows a little, “one of the reasons why Mrs. Kent offered me the job.”

“Are you studying journalism, then?” he asked curiously. 

“Yeah,” she nodded slightly, looking over at him, “trying to.”

Oliver nodded, meeting her eyes for a moment. “That’s cool.” 

“Yeah?” She arched her eyebrows, holding his gaze, “I kinda thought you’d be running as fast as you could when you found out.”

He smiled at that. “Well, maybe not til after you graduate,” he teased. 

Chloe grinned softly at that and nodded, “even then, I’m not into that kind of journalism.”

“Good to know. What kind are you into?”

“The real kind,” she smiled, “you know, with facts and research.”

“Well, now I’m even _more_ impressed,” he informed her, returning her smile.

“As long as you don’t think we’re all bad,” Chloe smiled.

“If all journalists were more like you, the world would be a better place.” 

She grinned softly, “hopefully you will still think that way after.”

Oliver smiled back at her, raising his eyebrows a little. “Hopefully.” He winked at her.

“Over here,” she said, nodding at the restaurant and smiling at him over her shoulder.

“Oh, smells good.” He followed her toward the door.

“They have really good fries,” she smiled, “and I’ve heard the steak is good too but I haven’t had it.”

He opened the door for her, meeting her gaze and smiling again. 

Chloe looked up at him for a moment and smiled softly before stepping inside.

Oliver followed her, greeting the hostess with a small smile and resting his hand at the small of Chloe’s back as the woman led them over toward a table, handing them each a menu.

“Thanks,” Chloe told the woman then sat down across from him, holding her breath. Now that they were there, the place felt a lot more intimate than she remembered.

“So you’re gonna try the steak?” He glanced from her to the menu and back again.

She arched her eyebrows and shook her head a little, “wasn’t really planning on it, are you?”

“No, how come?” He cocked his head. “I thought you sounded like you were going to try it.” 

“I usually have the croquer monsieur here,” she told him, shrugging, “It’s really good.”

He relaxed at that, offering her a smile. “That sounds good.” 

She relaxed too, shifting against her seat, “what are you having?”

“Spinach and mushroom crepes, I think.” He grinned.

“Oh,” she nodded, turning the page on the menu, “I didn’t even realize they had those, I only get the nutella crepe here,” she admitted.

Oliver chuckled. “I can’t have that,” he admitted.

“Why not?” She frowned, cocking her head.

“I’m allergic,” he told her with a small smile.

“To nutella?” Chloe asked, sitting up.

“Peanuts. Well, all kinds of nuts, actually.” 

“Oh.” She looked at him for a moment, “That must really suck.”

“I haven’t had peanut butter since I was four,” he told her with a small smile. “But I don’t really remember it, so I guess I don’t know what I’m missing.” 

“That helps, I guess,” she told him, “but I’m sure you need to be very careful with what you eat.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you wouldn’t believe the amount of food that has some kind of nuts in it.” 

“So do you always have to check when you order anything?” Chloe asked curiously.

He smiled. “It just depends on what I’m ordering, really.” 

“And what happens if you do eat something with nuts in it?” She cocked her head, frowning slightly.

“The last time it happened? I nearly died,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened at that, “do you have a shot or do you have to go to a hospital?”

“I usually keep an epi pen handy just in case, but I’m pretty careful,” he assured her with a small smile. 

“That’s good,” she said, relaxing a little then shook her head, “sorry about the twenty questions.”

“It’s okay.” He grinned, watching her. “I know it’s the whole journalism thing.” 

“Yeah,” she admitted, smiling softly, “it just sneaks up on me.”

“Have you always wanted to be a journalist?” he asked, taking a sip of water.

“Pretty much,” Chloe nodded, sitting back against her chair, “since I was about eight.”

“Wow.” He smiled softly, searching her eyes. 

She held his gaze and took a deep breath, “yeah, I kind of wanted to be a detective for a while when I was a kid, and then I learned about investigative journalism.” 

He nodded a little. “I bet you were a fan of Scooby Doo.” He smiled.

“Oh yeah,” she nodded, grinning, “I loved when I was able to figure out the mystery before Velma.”

Oliver chuckled. “I knew it.” 

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were still my favorites, though.” She told him, blushing a little.

He cocked his head to the side, looking surprised. “Oh, because of April O’Neil?” 

“Yeah,” she blinked, looking equally surprised, “did you watch it too?”

“It uh--it was actually my favorite, too,” he confessed, raising his eyebrows.

“Really?” She grinned, “who was your favorite?”

“Raphael,” he admitted with a grin in return. 

Chloe grinned at that and nodded, “I liked him a lot too.”

Oliver’s eyes were bright as he leaned forward just a little. “What other stuff did you like as a kid?” 

“Writing,” she smiled softly, “and when my parents finally got us a computer, I played on it a lot.”

He smiled, too, as a comfortable silence fell between them.

“What about you?” She asked after a moment, the look on his face was oddly comforting, like he was pretty comfortable being there with her.

“Well, I liked Robin Hood. And I used to think pirates were pretty cool, until a couple nearly killed me.” He shrugged a little.

“Right,” she made a face, sitting up, “that must have been horrible.”

“It wasn’t pleasant, but it is in the past. I try not to dwell too much.” His voice grew a little softer, because sometimes that was a lot easier said than done.

Chloe pursed her lips together a little, nodding, “yeah, that’s usually the best way to handle it.” She agreed, quietly too.

He was quiet for a moment, studying her. “This is nice,” he said softly.

She arched her eyebrows and pursed her lips together then smiled and nodded, “thanks for inviting me.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said honestly. 

Chloe smiled a little more, holding her breath then looking down before looking at him again.

Oliver met her eyes once more, smiling again, too.

* * *

They had been in the restaurant for over two hours having enjoyable conversations and even sharing food, but eventually, they decided to give up their table. By the time they got outside, it had gotten a lot colder and windy than when they went in. She buttoned up her coat and looked up at him, “I’ll have to blame the wind on you.”

His eyes widened a little at that. “How is it _my_ fault?” He shook his head. “I’m from California. I bring warmth, not cold.” 

“You jinxed it when we were coming in, saying at least it wasn’t windy,” she told him.

“Oh.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “Sorry?” 

“You’re forgiven,” she smirked, looking up at him.

“Oh, good.” He grinned at her, offering her his arm.

Chloe hesitated for a second then took his arm and smiled, stepping closer to him, “thanks for dinner.”

“You’re very welcome. Thanks for agreeing to it,” he said sincerely, walking alongside her down the sidewalk.

She shrugged slightly, “I’m glad I did.” She said just as sincerely.

He smiled as they walked. “Somehow I’m glad I didn’t get to meet Senator Kent.” 

Chloe held her breath and grinned softly, “she was sad not to meet you.”

“Well, I’ll have to come back sometime in the near future and meet her.” He glanced at her sideways, grinning a little.

She held her breath a little and smiled then nodded, “I’m sure she’d like that.”

“Yeah?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Mrs. Kent was looking forward to discussing everything with you.”

“And...what about you?” 

Chloe held her breath a little, “what about me?”

“How would you feel about me coming back in the near future?” he asked, his voice dropping a little. 

“I think it would be nice if you could,” she looked down then back up at him.

He met her eyes, a soft smile on his face as he walked her to her car. “I think it would be, too,” he agreed softly.

Chloe blushed and smiled, looking up at him then nodding slightly, “you leave tomorrow morning?”

“Unfortunately,” he said, nodding as he met her eyes. 

She pursed her lips together and nodded slightly, smiling a little, “maybe you should have done something a little more exciting for your last night in town.”

“But I did,” he told her with a soft smile.

Chloe couldn’t help but smile back at him and shake her head, “you know what I mean.”

Oliver leaned in closer to her and pressed a tender kiss to her cheek. “Thank you for a great evening,” he said sincerely.

She held her breath, turning her head to look at him when he pulled back, “thank you for dinner,” she said quietly, “and for a great evening too.”

He smiled, nodding as he held her gaze once more. “Get home safely.” 

“I will,” she told him, holding his gaze too, “I hope you have a good flight back.”

“Thanks.” He drew in a breath, reaching out and opening her car door for her. 

Pursing her lips together, she looked at him for a moment longer before ducking into the car, “have a good night.”

“You too,” he said softly, reluctantly closing the door behind her.

Chloe let out the breath she’d been holding when he closed the door and waved slightly at him with a smile before starting the car, not entirely sure why she felt so reluctant to leave him.

Oliver lifted his hand in a wave, as well, his chest tightening as she started the car.

She looked at him for a moment longer before slowly starting to pull out of the parking spot, she’d known all along this was all there was going to be to it, she just couldn’t understand why she suddenly didn’t feel okay with that anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Authors: and   
Title: Surprise Revelations  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: We don't own anything. We're just playing.  
Summary: This is an AU that takes place about a year after season 5. Chloe is living in DC, going to school and working as Mrs. Kent’s assistant when she meets Oliver through the senator and they find out they have a lot more in common than they could ever have imagined.

One \- Two  


“Arrow to Cyborg. You’re breaking up.” Oliver frowned, pressing his fingers to the earbud in his ear to try and make the static stop crackling.

“Going un--” Victor said, “-row.”

“Man, not good, I hope he’s not crashing or something,” Bart frowned from where he was.

He sighed inaudibly, glancing around the dark hallways. “I think the connection is just weak in here, Impulse. What’s your location?” 

“Still outside making sure no one is approaching,” he said as he ran the perimeter of the building.

“All right. Just keep an eye out. I’m doing a sweep of the West hallway.” He glanced around and headed down the corridor, checking inside each room.

“I am,” Bart said. 

“Some-- ere.” Victor’s voice came through the speakers a moment later.

“Still can’t read you, Cyborg,” he said regretfully, his body tense. 

“Dow--” He managed before getting cut off again. 

“Down?” Bart frowned, “should I go check on him?”

“Yeah, go on,” Oliver agreed, opening the last door on the right and growing still as he caught sight of the woman lying on the gurney, an IV attached to her hand. Her hair was shoulder-length and brown, her eyes shut. He couldn’t tell if she was even breathing. 

“Be right back,” Bart said before rushing to the area Vic should be.

He moved farther into the room, hesitating a second and reaching out to feel for a pulse in the woman’s throat. It was there, but it was faint. 

There were a few more moment of silence before Bart ran right to where other Oliver was, “dude,” he said, eyes wide even before he saw the woman.

“She’s alive, but barely,” he murmured. “Did you find Cyborg?” 

“Yeah...” he swallowed hard, “there must be like 30 people down there.”

He turned, his eyes widening. “ _What?_ ” 

“Mostly unconscious, some in like, cages, what do we do?” He asked, shaking his head.

His jaw tightened and he looked down at the pale woman on the bed. “We get them out.” 

“I’ll move the unconscious one first, to Star City,” Bart nodded, “and I’ll send Cyborg to keep watch.”

Nodding, he reached out and unhooked the IV from the woman’s hand, carefully scooping her into his arms and holding her out to Bart. “Go.” 

Bart looked down at the woman and took a deep breath before taking off as fast as he could run, it was a long way to Star City.

* * * 

Oliver hadn’t slept in nearly three days, and he was wired from caffeine and adrenaline as he paced back and forth in his penthouse suite. It had taken them hours to get everyone moved, and the team’s doctor, Emil Hamilton, was still going around checking on them. There had been 32 in all, a mix of males and females, ages ranging from about fifteen to the fifties.

“Any news?” Bart asked as he got back in after a quick patrol, stretching as he looked over at Oliver.

“So far? One’s died, two others are on the brink of it, and the rest are either all unconscious or in comas.” There was more than a hint of anger in his voice.

He winced at that and shook his head, “I can go back there and see if I can find anything we missed that wasn’t destroyed in the explosion,” he offered.

“There wasn’t, Bart,” he said, shaking his head, as well, and continuing to pace.

“There has to be something else we can do,” he said impatiently.

He raked a hand through his short, spiky blond hair. “Like what?” 

“I don’t know,” Bart said as if he was not expecting the question, “but we can’t just let them die.”

Oliver’s jaw tightened at that. “Emil’s on it. Along with about forty nurses.” 

“Maybe we can find other locations, with more research and steal that?” Bart tried.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “We haven’t had time to check the other places out, Bart.” 

“I can go?” He offered.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Sync up with Vic first. And be _careful_.” 

“Alright,” Bart nodded, “I won’t be long,” he said before disappearing once more.

Oliver let out a breath and moved over to sit down at his desk, turning his chair so he was facing the window overlooking Star City and staring out it blankly. 

A moment later, his phone started to ring.

He reached out and picked it up, pressing it to his ear without looking at the caller ID. “Queen.” 

“Mr Queen?” Martha said, “this is Senator Kent.”

He paused for a moment. Of all the times to get a phone call from a politician he was endorsing, now was the worst. At least, so far. “Hello, Senator. How are you doing?” 

“Doing well, thank you, is this a bad time?” She asked politely.

“No, it’s fine,” he lied easily. He was good at it, after all. “What can I do for you?” 

“I just wanted to apologize for missing you while you were in town,” she told him, “I had an emergency at home on Sunday and didn’t get back into the office until today, I wanted to follow up on everything.”

“It’s all right,” Oliver assured her. “Your assistant was very helpful.” 

“She always is,” Martha smiled, “she spoke highly of you and I knew you would be in good hands with her.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Chloe speaking highly of him. “Well, you were right. I have to admit, I’m a little jealous that you already snagged her up.” 

Martha chuckled, “I’ll be sure to let her know, if she seems to be getting bored with work here,” she offered, “but I would like to meet with you at another opportunity, Mr. Queen.”

“I’d like that, too, Senator,” he agreed, sitting forward a little in his chair. And he’d definitely like to see Chloe Sullivan again, but he didn’t tell her that. 

“Glad to hear,” she told him, “if you are ever around here or in Kansas, please let me know. And we will be having a Thanksgiving party if you are interested in joining us next month.”

He paused at that, considering. “In DC?” 

“I’m still working out the details with my son, but I will ask Chloe to send you an invitation once we know the time and place, would that work for you?”

“It might,” he told her, chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment. “Will Chloe be attending, too? Or will she be with family?” 

Martha paused at the question then nodded, “she is family, she will be there.” She told him.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “And you’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding?” 

“Absolutely not, I really appreciate your help and support, Mr. Queen, and it would be great if you could make it.” 

“Well. I’ll definitely make every effort I can to be there, then,” he told her.

“Glad to hear it,” she smiled, “I will have Chloe send you the invitation hopefully by the end of the week.”

“Great. I look forward to meeting you, Senator.” 

“So do I, Mr. Queen. Hope you have a good week and once again, thank you for the support.” She told him.

“You’re very welcome. I’ll see you soon.” He drew in a breath as he hung up the phone, leaning back in his chair once more and staring at it for a long moment, wondering what the hell he was doing. 

* * *

“Glad you could make it,” Emil told Oliver as he stood up from behind his desk, he looked way more tired than usual, but he hadn’t really stopped working in the past 5 days or so.

“How’s it going?” Oliver asked, looking almost as tired as the doctor. 

“Most of them have been stabilized, but two of them seem to be going through withdrawl of whatever they were being injected with.” He admitted.

Oliver rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, his expression grim. “Do you think we should have left them there?” 

“From what you told me about the place and from what I have seen, that would only make it worse,” he said sincerely, “we are trying to track down what the substances are, but there is one that seems to appear in most cases that I can’t seem to find anywhere else.”

“And what’s that?” he asked uncertainly, watching the other man.

“I was hoping you would have some idea,” he said, shaking his head and pulling out files on some of the patients, “it’s something I’ve never seen before.”

Oliver frowned, waiting as patiently as he could for the doctor to explain more, but when he didn’t, he raised his eyebrows. “Can you describe it?” 

“The particles are bright green,” he told him, “it seems to coincide with a particular mutation, some of them, I’d say about a third of them, don’t have the mutation, but the rest of them do and they have all been infused with this substance.”

“Bright green?” he echoed, cocking his head to the side. “I have no idea.” 

“I do.” Victor’s voice was quiet as he stepped into the office behind Oliver, his eyebrows raised. “It’s from meteor rocks in Kansas.” 

“Kansas?” Emil frowned, looking up at the younger man.

“A town called Smallville,” he supplied, looking worried. 

“Would you be able to get a sample of the meteor rocks for comparison?” Emil asked.

“Would probably be easier to have Bart grab some,” he admitted, glancing at Oliver.

Oliver considered that for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll give him a call, see if he can do that.” He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. 

“Thank you,” Emil nodded. 

“Sup?” Bart answered a moment later, “better be good news.”

“A request, actually. Vic said there’s some bright green meteor rocks in a town called Smallville? In Kansas?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, from the meteor shower,” Bart nodded, “what about them?”

“Can you go grab a handful of them and bring them to the lab? We think Luthor might be using them as some kind of drug against these people.” 

“Yeah, definitely,” Bart nodded, “I’m on my way.” He said, already halfway to Kansas as he hung up.

Oliver hung up the phone and turned to look at Emil and Victor. “He’s on his way to Kansas.” 

“That should help us figure out what he was doing to those people,” he told the others, “what made you think of the rock?” He asked Victor.

“Because I’ve seen them before,” he told them, crossing his arms over his chest. “I have a friend in Smallville, and I went to Met U.” 

“And they are known to cause mutation?” he asked, frowning. “Because the substance is also on their DNA.”

“Yeah, they are. Big time. A lot of people around there apparently got abilities from the stuff.” He raised his eyebrows, then paused, meeting Oliver’s eyes. 

“Which is probably why Lex wanted them in the first place,” he concluded grimly.

“That’s a start,” Emil nodded, “makes me wonder if those people already had the mutation, or if he gave it to them.”

A moment later, Bart showed up in the office, “got it.”

Oliver looked at the handful of glowing green rocks in Bart’s hand and then looked at Emil. “We might have to do more research to find the answer to _that_ question. But we’ll see if Vic’s right on the rocks. Thanks, Bart.” 

“Sure man,” Bart nodded, looking between the three of them. 

“I’ll get right on it,” Emil told them, taking the rocks, “I will let you know as soon as I have results.” He told Oliver.

Oliver nodded, and drew in a breath, looking at Bart for a moment and then glancing back at Emil. “The first woman he brought in.” He raised his eyebrows a little. “Is she stable?” 

“She is one of the two I’m worried about,” Emil admitted, “but hopefully with this, I will be able to recreate the drugs she had in her system.”

He chewed the inside of his cheek, worry passing over his expression as he nodded. “All right. Keep me updated,” he said quietly. “Thanks.” 

“I will,” he nodded once more, “if you’ll excuse me,” he nodded at the other two too then made his way out the door.

He watched Emil head out and let out a breath, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. 

“Man, you need to get some sleep,” Victor said, frowning.

“Seriously,” Bart agreed, frowning too, “when was the last time you slept?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Mostly I’ve been here, or researching, or at QI.” 

“Get some rest, man, you look like a zombie.” Bart told him.

Oliver gave him a sour look. “Thanks.” 

“He’s not wrong,” Victor told him, “we’ll keep an eye on things.”

He considered for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Call me on my cell if something comes up. Or if Emil finds out anything more.” He offered them a small smile and headed out the door.

“We will,” they both said, exchanging worried looks as he walked out.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair as he walked down the corridor, pausing in the doorway to the older woman’s room and leaning against the doorframe. She was hooked up to at least half a dozen machines. He didn’t know why his attention kept being drawn back to her in particular, but he was chalking it up to the fact that she was the first one they’d found. Sighing softly, he chewed the inside of his cheek. 

He hoped Emil would find some answers soon. Because surely someone out there was worried sick about her.


	4. Chapter 4

  


Every time the doorbell rang, Chloe felt her heart skip a beat. Mrs. Kent had made it her job to answer it, since she was busy keeping Clark busy and distracted and her dad and Lois were in the living room, watching the game. Chloe knew this was an attempt to keep her away from the kitchen, but also, Mrs. Kent had been curious as to what had happened with Oliver Queen while he was in DC, since the man had apparently asked if she was going to be there.

And since he was the only guest they were still waiting on, this time, when the bell rang, she sat up straight on the arm of the couch then made her way to the door, pausing by the hallway mirror to check on her hair before continuing to the front door. She opened it slowly and smiled instantly, “hi,” she greeted, he was just as gorgeous as she remembered.

He held his breath as she opened the door, and as soon as their eyes met, he smiled back at her. It had been almost a month since he’d last seen her, and the pictures he’d found of her online really didn’t do her justice. “Hi,” he returned, his eyes brightening. He held up the glass pan he was holding. “I made a casserole.” 

“Oh,” her eyes widened, “come on in, Mrs. Kent will be glad to hear that.” She smiled more, stepping aside to make room for him.

He stepped inside, smiling back at her again. “You look beautiful.” 

“Thank you,” she grinned softly, looking up at him. “what did you bring?”

“Green bean casserole.” He met her eyes once more, feeling his chest tighten ever-so-slightly. He could count on one hand how often a woman made _that_ happen.

“One of my favorites,” she admitted, grinning softly, “Mrs. Kent is finishing up in the kitchen, the rest of us aren’t allowed to help.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows. “How come?” he asked curiously.

“Well, my family is kind of a disaster in the kitchen,” she admitted, “and then it’s just Mrs. Kent and her son.”

He couldn’t help but grin at that. He’d been starting to think there was _nothing_ she was actually bad at, considering everything he’d read. Not only had she been the editor of her high school paper, but she’d been valedictorian of the entire class, _and_ prom queen. “I see.” Amusement shone in his eyes.

“This way,” she told him, holding her breath when he grinned at her, he was still incredibly intense, “you probably don’t want to keep carrying that around.”

“Yeah, we are increasing the likelihood of my dropping it,” he joked, following her toward the kitchen.

“Mrs. Kent?” Chloe called after grinning at Oliver over her shoulder, “Mr. Queen is here,” she announced as he followed her into the kitchen.

“Please, call me Oliver,” he said sincerely.

“Oliver,” she nodded slightly, smiling at him before stepping into the kitchen, “he brought green bean casserole.”

Oliver smiled as Mrs. Kent turned to look at them. “Senator. It’s nice to finally meet you.” 

“I can say the same,” she told him, wiping her hands before holding one out to him. “Thank you for coming.”

“Well, thank you for having me,” he said, shaking her hand. “It smells wonderful.” 

“Thank you,” she said, taking the casserole from him, “it should be ready shortly, would you like something to drink?”

“No, I’m good,” Oliver assured her with a smile, glancing sideways at Chloe.

Chloe smiled softly back at him and arched her eyebrows, “if you like football, everyone else is watching the game in the living room,” she offered.

He pursed his lips, lowering his voice a little. “To be honest with you, football’s never really been my thing.” 

She grinned softly and shook her head, “not mine either, I can show you around the farm if you want?” She offered.

“I think that’s a great idea, Chloe,” Martha told her.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Oliver agreed, smiling again as he met Chloe’s eyes. 

She arched her eyebrows a little and nodded, smiling back at him, “we can start with the barn if you’re okay with going back out,” she suggested.

“Sure.” He shrugged a little, glad he’d remembered to pack a warm coat and a scarf. It wasn’t snowing in Kansas yet, but he had a feeling it wasn’t too far off with as cold as it was. He followed her toward the back door and then into the yard, glancing around curiously. “You know, I’ve never been on a farm before,” he confessed.

“Really?” She asked, picking up her coat on the way out and sliding it on, “this was my first farm too.”

“I guess it’s because we’re both from big cities.” He smiled softly, tucking his hands in his pockets. 

“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding slightly, “but this is a good farm to visit since it’s a dairy farm, no killing animals or anything.”

“That’s good,” he agreed, grimacing a little. 

“You okay?” Chloe asked, cocking her head as she led him to the barn.

“Oh, yeah. A good friend of mine is a vegetarian,” he told her with a small smile. “And to be honest, I don’t eat a lot of red meat.” 

“Oh,” Chloe arched her eyebrows and nodded a little but thought better not to comment on her own eating habits.

He glanced at her sideways. “But it doesn’t bother me if people do,” he added quickly. “It’s not a judgment thing.” 

“Good to know,” she smiled, a little embarrassed, “I’m not great with the eating healthy thing.”

Oliver grinned involuntarily. “Hardly the end of the world.” 

“I guess it isn’t,” she grinned softly back at him and shrugged.

“Oh. Horses.” He raised his eyebrows as he caught sight of one of them running in the fenced-in field. 

Chloe laughed quietly at his surprise and nodded “horses, cows, sheep.” She told him, “and a dog.”

He grinned sheepishly, ducking his head a little. “Like I said. Never been to a farm before.” 

“You never even rode a horse before?” She asked, surprised by that.

“Ah, no. Not so much. I like dogs, though.” 

“I do too,” she admitted, “and their dog Shelby is a very sweet dog.”

“What about you? You a fan of horseback riding?” he asked, glancing at her.

“Oh no,” Chloe shook her head, arching her eyebrows, “I’ve been a few times and I rather stick with cars.”

He grinned involuntarily. “Yeah, I have a feeling that would end up being my opinion, too.” 

“It’s not comfortable and you never know what mood the horse is in so you never know what it will do.” She told him.

He paused at that. “Sounds like you’ve been thrown.” 

“Not thrown, but I have been on a horse that decided to run off.” She shook her head, “not a fun experience.”

“Sounds kinda scary,” he said honestly.

“It was,” she admitted, “and I was probably more freaked out than I should have been, but I guess I’m just not fit for horseback riding.”

“It probably would have freaked anyone out,” he told her as they walked into the barn and he looked up and around. 

“Probably,” she agreed then motioned around, “this is the barn, where I spent a lot of time during high school,” she smirked a little, starting up the stairs, “Mrs. Kent’s son, Clark, one of my best friends pretty much lived here.”

Oliver followed her up the steps, raising his eyebrows at that. “So instead of being born in a barn, he was raised in one?” His voice was light, joking.

She grinned at that and nodded, “pretty much, by choice of course. This was his hideout. Still kinda is.”

“It does seem cozy,” he admitted, looking around and taking note of the well-broken-in sofa, the radio on the desk, the worn red jacket hanging on the chair. 

“Yeah,” she agreed, moving over to the window, “and it has a pretty nice view,” she motioned.

Oliver moved closer to her so he was standing right beside her and looking out the window that overlooked fields as far as his eyes could see. “I bet it’s pretty at sunset.” 

“It is,” she said, glancing up at him, “especially in the summer.”

He smiled softly, looking at her, as well. “So this is where Chloe Sullivan spent most of her time?” 

“Not really,” she admitted, “probably the second on the list, I spent a lot of time at the school newspaper.”

“Well, that makes sense, with the whole journalism thing.” He leaned back against the wall of the barn, watching her.

“Yeah and to be fair, being in Smallville, there wasn’t a whole lot to do,” she grinned softly, not unless a meteor freak or two were trying to kill people, anyway.

Oliver smiled at that. “Is that why you left for DC?” 

“Partially,” she nodded, looking down, “I was planning on going to MetU, but I got a scholarship there and then Mrs. Kent offered me a job, so... it all kinda fit together.”

He wasn’t sure why, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something big she was leaving out, but he didn’t feel like he could question her, considering they didn’t know each other that well. And it wasn’t like she owed him anything. “It’s nice when the happens,” he said softly, his gaze still fixed on her intently. 

“Yeah,” she smiled softly and shrugged, looking back out the window, “and I like it there.”

“But you miss here,” he said softly.

Chloe held her breath when she turned to look at him again, wondering how he had managed to read her that easily, “I miss the people, sometimes.”

He smiled faintly, nodding. “You looked pretty nostalgic there,” he admitted.

“Did I?” She asked, surprised as she arched her eyebrows at him.

“Yeah.” He met her eyes once more. “And it makes sense.” 

Chloe cocked her head, watching him closely, wondering how he had reached that conclusion, “how so?”

“Well, you grew up here,” he said softly. “I’m sure you have a lot of friends around here, and memories.” 

“Well, a couple of friends and my dad,” she admitted, “but yeah, lots of memories.” She smiled softly.

“Just a couple?” He arched his eyebrows. 

“I wasn’t exactly popular in high school,” she arched her eyebrows.

“That surprises me,” he admitted.

Chloe frowned at that and turned sideways to look at him, “does it?”

He nodded a little. “You’re smart, beautiful, fun to spend time with.” He shrugged. 

She wanted to call him a flirt, but considering who he was, she felt like she should stop herself, “thank you but,” she shrugged a little, “I guess I didn’t really fit in here.”

Oliver watched her. “Too smart for the small town minds?” he guessed, raising his eyebrows.

“My ego appreciates the comment,” she smirked, shaking her head, “but I suppose I should go with ‘too curious’.”

He chuckled. “Is there really such a thing?” 

Her eyes widened a little, “I would think that you of all people would think so.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle again at her wide-eyed expression. “Well, when it comes to the _important_ stuff. The real journalism and not the tabloid crap people write about me.” 

Chloe relaxed and grinned softly, shaking her head, “it’s really refreshing to see someone who is technically on the other side think that way.”

“Well, what you do is important. Getting the truth out to people who would otherwise be in the dark.” He smiled back at her. 

“What I hope to do, anyway,” she smiled, watching him closely.

Oliver nodded, watching her closely in return. “You will,” he said confidently.

“Thank you,” she whispered sincerely, watching him closely for a moment then looking away, “I’m glad you were able to come.”

He held his breath at that. “Me too.” 

“Did you come all the way to Kansas just for Thanksgving?” She asked, her face feeling warmer.

He paused, feeling a little caught off guard by the question, though in retrospect, he supposed he shouldn’t have been. “Yeah, actually,” he said truthfully.

She arched her eyebrows but managed to stay quiet, nodding slightly, “that’s... hopefully the food will make it worth the trip.” She said, trying to sound like she was teasing. 

Oliver gazed at her. “The company already did that.” 

Chloe held her breath and smiled softly at him before looking down, “do you want to see the rest of the farm?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” He smiled, too.

She nodded a little and took a deep breath, “there isn’t a whole lot more to see, the cows are all inside because of the cold, but we can go there.”

He couldn’t help but grin. “Cows, huh?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yep,” she grinned a little, “and they smell badly.” 

“Maybe we should skip the cows then,” he teased.

“If you want to,” she smiled, shrugging slightly, “there isn’t much more, in that case.”

Oliver smiled at her. “I’m okay with staying here.” 

She paused at that and arched her eyebrows a little, searching his eyes, “at the barn?”

“Until dinner? I mean, unless you think Senator Kent needs some help.” He chewed the inside of his cheek.

“Oh,” she shook her head slightly, “she wouldn’t let us help anyway,” Chloe admitted, smiling, “I can turn the heater on while we wait.”

“Sounds good.” He hesitated, then moved over to sit down on the old sofa.

She reached for the heater in a corner of the room and brought it to the front of the couch, it was tiny and didn’t help much at all since Clark didn’t really need it, but at least, it looked like it was working, “when do you go back to California?” She asked as she sat down next to him but kept space between them. 

“In a few days,” he told her, turning his body so he was facing her on the sofa. “I have a few things to take care of at the office in Metropolis while I’m here.” 

“Oh,” Chloe nodded slightly, “that’s nice that you will get some use out of the trip.”

“What about you? When do you head back to DC?” He searched her eyes.

“Monday morning,” she told him, relaxing back against the couch, “I tried getting a flight back on Sunday but they were sold out.”

“Oh. Is the Senator going back then, too?” He cocked his head.

“She’s not sure yet, she wanted to spend some time with Clark, so she might stay a few days longer.” Chloe told him, smiling softly. 

“And you have to get back for school.” He nodded a little. 

“Yeah, I don’t have classes until Tuesday, but with the weather, I rather not risk going in Tuesday morning.” She said, shrugging slightly.

“Understandable.” He smiled faintly.

“What would you be doing today if you hadn’t come here?” She asked curiously, she knew his parents had passed away when he was young, so she wasn’t sure how that worked.

Oliver considered that for a moment, thinking of his team, who were all spending the holidays with their own families. “Honestly? Probably working.” 

“Oh,” she frowned, “I’m glad you were able to come then, that doesn’t sound like fun.” 

He felt his chest tighten at her frown. “Well, it’s not that big of a deal, really.” 

“It’s not?” Chloe asked, cocking her head. Because his expression said otherwise.

He held his breath for a moment, unable to shake the impression that she was seeing right through him. “Just another day.” 

“True, but you should, at the very least, allow yourself a break.” She told him, arching her eyebrows. 

“I do.” He paused, and flashed her a grin. “Once in awhile.” 

She gave him a suspicious look, “and what do you do on those breaks?”

“Usually something really dangerous and adventuress.” He winked.

“Now that sounds interesting,” she grinned softly, “like going on spy missions or jumping off of planes?”

He grinned, nodding. “Or rock climbing or white water rafting.” 

“That kind,” she grinned, “when was the last time you went?”

“It’s been awhile,” he admitted with a sheepish smile. “I went rock-climbing in New Zealand over the summer.” And by summer he meant early June. Two years ago.

“Oh,” Chloe arched her eyebrows, “wasn’t there an Earthquake there last summer? Were you there for it?”

His lips quirked upwards but he suppressed a smile. “You caught me. It was two summers ago.” 

“So two years ago was the last time you had a real break?” Chloe asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Guilty as charged.” He leaned against the sofa, watching her closely.

“I guess you need to change that,” she smiled softly, shrugging. 

“I guess I’m a bit of a workaholic.” 

“I get that,” she admitted, then shrugged a little, “but you are your own boss, right?”

“Yeah.” His eyebrows furrowed.

“Then you can just assign yourself vacation time and go do whatever you want, right?” She asked.

He smiled a bit. “Technically, yeah. But I’m not so sure how my board would react to that.” 

“Well maybe you can just not tell them,” she shrugged, “if you haven’t taken a break in over two years, I say you deserve one.”

“And what about you?” he asked curiously, watching her. “How often do you get a break?” 

“I’m getting a break now,” she told him, smirking a little. 

“Well, so am I.” He smirked back at her.

“I guess it kind of counts,” she grinned a little, shrugging. 

“Hey, if it counts for you, it counts for me.” He grinned.

“Yeah, but it’s different,” she told him, “your vacations are much more exciting than this.”

“That may be, but there’s something to be said for company and home-cooked meals.” 

“I guess I can’t argue with you there.” She grinned a little. 

“Of course not.” He chuckled softly.

“It’s a rare occasion,” she told him, “just to let you know.”

“Chloe?” Clark called, frowning as he made his way up the stairs.

Oliver turned toward the sound of the voice, raising his eyebrows and reluctantly standing up.

Chloe stood up too, arching her eyebrows, “up here,” she called back to him. 

Clark frowned when he saw the two of them, “dinner is ready.” He told them. 

“That was fast.” He smiled a bit, glancing at the other man. “You must be Clark.” He held his hand out. “Oliver Queen.” 

Clark nodded, shaking his hand then turning back to Chloe, “what were you doing here?”

“Just showing Oliver around.” She told him, shrugging, “he had never been to a farm before.”

Oliver glanced between them, pursing his lips. “Thanks for letting me crash your Thanksgiving get together.” 

“My mother thought it might be a good idea,” Clark told him. 

Chloe rolled her eyes at him, “and it was.”

He couldn’t help but wonder if Clark was annoyed because he was there, or because he was there with _Chloe_ or both. “Well, I appreciate it.” He glanced at Chloe, raising his eyebrows. 

Chloe shook her head slightly at Oliver then turned off the heater before starting toward the stairs, “let’s go.”

He followed her silently, wondering what he’d missed.

Clark sighed too, following them and shrugging a little as he made his way down the stairs.


	5. Chapter 5

  


It was after Midnight as he made his way across rooftops toward the dorm where he knew she lived. He already knew she wasn’t home yet, he’d been keeping his eye on her all day, and she’d been at the library up until fifteen minutes ago. But the campus was large and his plan was to intercept her so that he didn’t risk running into any of her dorm mates. And then he caught sight of her down below on the sidewalk, his heart beginning to beat a little faster in his chest.

It was already getting pretty cold out, so she sped up the pace to get back to her room, the campus was already mostly closed and she was exhausted, but she still wasn’t done on her homework and she needed to finish it before going to bed.

A moment later, he dropped soundlessly to the ground right behind her. “Chloe Sullivan?” His voice sounded mechanical from the distorter he used.

She gasped and turned around quickly, her eyes wide, her heart beating fast as she stared at the him, speechless for a moment, then it clicked, “Green Arrow?”

He nodded ever-so-slightly. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I figured that much,” she took a deep breath then stared at him for a moment longer, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk to you,” he told her, taking a small step closer to her.

“What could you possibly want with me?” Chloe asked, her heart beating faster as he stepped closer, but she didn’t step away.

“Help,” he admitted, cocking his head to the side.

“You want _my_ help?” She asked, eyes wide, “with what?”

“Information on Smallville, and the little green meteor rocks that are all over the place there.” He paused. 

Chloe stilled, her expression growing blank, “why?”

“Because I think it may be the key to stopping Lex Luthor.” 

Swallowing hard, she straightened, “what is he doing?”

“Experimenting on people, using meter rock,” he told her. 

“How do you know about this?” She asked, stepping closer to him.

“Because I came across one of the facilities he was using to do it,” he said honestly. 

She considered him for a moment, she knew he was one of the superheroes that were running around the country but she couldn’t be sure what his intentions were. And anyone knowing about the meteor rocks could be a danger to Clark. “What do you need?” She asked, knowing she had to keep a close eye on whatever Green Arrow was doing, but more importantly, on what Lex was doing.

“Any information you can give me that might help me bring him down,” Oliver told her, gazing at her intently from behind his night vision glasses.

“I don’t know what kind of experiments he is working on,” she told him, “and all of the information I have on him, it’s useless. He has already covered his tracks.”

“It might not be useless, Chloe.” 

“I can share some of it,” she told him, shaking her head, “but don’t hold your breath.”

“I never do.” 

“Where can I find you?” Chloe asked, watching him closely.

“Tomorrow night. The roof of your dorm. Midnight?” 

Chloe couldn’t help but smirk a little at that, nodding and arching her eyebrows, “I’ll have information for you.”

His gaze swept over her and he returned her smirk. “I can hardly wait, Gorgeous.”

Her eyes widened at that and she held her breath, looking up at him, “before you disappear.” She said, but paused.

Oliver cocked his head to the side. “Yeah?” 

“How did you find _me_?” She asked.

At that, he smirked again. “Well, you did publish a lot of articles about the meteor rocks in Smallville. I figured might as well go straight to the expert.”

“Expert, huh?” She smirked back at him then shook her head, “I will try not to let you down.”

“Good to know,” he responded, flashing her a grin before he fired an anchor line to the roof of the building and shot straight up into the sky.

Chloe held her breath and lifted her head to watch him, eyes widening as he disappeared on top of the building. Sleeping was definitely not going to be an option for the night, but at least she felt a lot more awake now.

* * *

As expected, she had barely slept the previous night, but she had met all of her deadlines with work, the paper, homework and now the research for Green Arrow. She’d kept very busy but the closer it got to midnight, the more time seemed to drag. 

But it was finally here, five minutes to midnight and she climbed the narrow stairs up to the roof, an envelope under her arm and lots of layers, just in case she had to be there for a while.

But he was already there, sitting on the edge of the roof and looking out over the city when he heard her footsteps, and he rose to his feet, turning to look at her. 

“You’re early,” she said, surprised. She knew she wasn’t late.

He cocked his head to the side. “Is that bad?” 

“No, just surprising,” she admitted, approaching him slowly.

“Do people usually let you down by standing you up or making you wait?” he asked curiously, watching her.

“I never said that,” Chloe told him, frowning and wondering how the hell he knew that.

“Your surprise spoke for you,” he responded, taking a step closer to her. 

“I have some things for you,” she told him, holding out the envelope, “a lot of my research is offline and not in the city with me, though.”

Oliver nodded a little, reaching out and taking the envelope from her. “I’m sure it’ll be helpful.” 

“If you have any specific questions,” she offered, “I might be able to help you more.”

He considered that, watching her closely. “You know him personally, right?” 

“Lex Luthor?” Chloe asked just for confirmation then nodded.

“He seems to have a personal vendetta against people with abilities or people who are meteor infected. Any idea why?” 

“He’s jealous,” she put simply, “he wants powers for himself, if my theory is correct, he _should_ have them, since he was there for the meteor shower, right in the middle of it, but as far as I know, he doesn’t.”

“So maybe he’s experimenting on people to try and figure out why they got powers from the rocks and _he_ didn’t?” 

“It is possible,” she nodded, “but if you ask me, a more likely theory would be that he’s trying to figure out how to give himself powers.”

His jaw tightened at that. “You could be right about that,” he murmured.

“Or to figure out how to give other people powers, and have them under his control.” She added in a quieter voice.

He held his breath for a moment. “You think he’s that far gone?” 

“I have learned not to doubt anything when it comes to him,” she took a deep breath, “you might want to start working on the same if you’re about to go piss him off.”

Oliver cocked his head to the side. “Worried about me?” he couldn’t help but tease.

“You just might be our best hope to stop him,” she said, keeping her voice serious.

His own expression grew serious once more. “I’ll do my best,” he said, nodding a little.

“It looks like you know where to find me, if you need anything,” she told him, “I do want to help.” 

“You don’t have to go so soon.” He raised his eyebrows a little.

Chloe blinked, surprised by that, “well, I don’t but... I thought you might have.”

A smile tugged at his mouth. “I can spare a few minutes.” 

“What do you want to talk about in those few minutes?” She asked, forcing herself to sound less business-like. The man was like a dream come true after all.

He grinned at her willingness to entertain his request. “Anything you want. I’ve been out patrolling all evening. Gets a little lonely.” 

“I bet lonely isn’t something you have to worry about unless you want to,” she smirked, arching her eyebrows. Not with those arms.

He blinked, a little surprised by her statement. “You’d be surprised.” 

“Why is that?” Chloe asked.

“Well, it is difficult to get close to people when you have a secret identity,” he pointed out.

She paused at that, her face falling a little then she nodded, “if you don’t trust them enough to tell them the truth, they are probably no good for you anyway.”

He felt his chest tighten when her face fell. “You’re not wrong,” he admitted.

“Well,” she said, suddenly feeling guilty for her previous comment, “if you need company, you apparently know where to find me,” she told him, “chances are, I’ll be by myself too.”

“That really baffles me,” he told her, arching his eyebrows. 

“Why? You don’t know me,” she said gently. “Not anymore than I know you, anyway.”

“I feel like I kind of do. From all the articles.” He held his breath for a moment.

“I’ve read a lot about you too,” she told him, “about what you do, but that doesn’t mean I know who you really are.”

“Point,” he conceded, nodding. 

“But I will tell you this and I’m pretty sure there is no way I can be wrong about it: you’re one of the good guys and I think you’re incredibly brave for doing what you do.”

Oliver turned his head to look at her once more, holding his breath again. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. 

Chloe smiled softly at him and nodded a little, “which is why I want to help anyway I can.”

“I appreciate that. And I’m probably going to need your help again,” he admitted. “But it might not be for awhile. I’m not in town long.” Even as he said it, he felt a pang in his chest.

Her face fell a little once more but she nodded, “I figured as much, but I’m sure you can find out my email and phone number the same way you found me, so if I can help with anything, let me know. I’m good with research.”

“Count on it. Thank you for your help.” He held up the envelope.

“Stay safe,” Chloe said, unable to stop herself. “Especially of you do find something.”

“I will. I mean, safe is practically my middle name.” His smile twitched upwards just a little.

“It has to be with what you do,” she smiled slightly then nodded a little.

“You be careful too,” he said, pushing himself away from the ledge and closed to her. “This isn’t exactly the safest city in the country.” 

“I’ll do my best,” she told him, nodding a little, her chest tight as she watched him.

“Good,” he said quietly, hesitating a second, then shifting closer to her and cupping her cheek in his hand. 

She held her breath at the unexpected touch and looked up at him.

“Goodnight,” he told her, dipping his head and kissing the corner of her mouth very lightly.

Chloe held her breath at that, blinking, surprised then turning her head slightly but not pulling back, “goodnight.” 

He smiled softly at her, then hopped up on the ledge of the roof and jumped to the next roof over.

She let out her breath and walked over to the edge, looking over at him as he landed on the building across the street, her head still spinning. 

When he made it to a couple roofs away, he turned to look back at her, and lifted his hand in a wave. Then he disappeared from sight.

Chloe let out her breath and smiled even as she lifted her hand to wave back at him, her smile turning into a grin a moment later before she shook her head and started back toward the stairs. Hopefully he would be back soon. 

* * * 

Oliver sat at the dining room table with the guys, raising his eyebrows a little. “I couldn’t shake the feeling she knew more than she was saying, but I don’t think it’s because she’s trying to protect Lex,” he told them, chewing the inside of his cheek. 

“Then why do you think it is?” Vic asked, frowning. 

“I have no idea,” he admitted. “But she’s no fan of the Luthor’s.” 

“Where did you find her, anyway?” AC asked, arching his eyebrows. “Maybe Luthor has her in his pocket.”

“He doesn’t,” Oliver said firmly, then hesitated. “I kind of already knew her.” 

“What do you mean?” Bart asked, finally turning his attention away from the pizza.

“From the CEO work,” he answered, looking around at them. “She’s Senator Kent’s personal assistant. I’ve donated to the senator’s campaign funds.” 

“Wait, the one you had a date with a few weeks ago?” Victor asked, smirking slightly.

Oliver glanced at him, pursing his lips. “Yes,” he admitted.

“What’s going on?” AC asking, arching his eyebrows. 

“What do you mean?” He shook his head a little.

“Some girl you’re seeing happens to know about Luthor and the rocks?” He said, “who is she?”

He sighed softly. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the guys. It was that he couldn’t help but want to keep some part of his life as just his for a change. “Her name’s Chloe Sullivan. And she grew up in Smallville.” 

“Wait, Clark’s friend Chloe?” Bart asked, “the blonde one?”

Oliver blinked, cocking his head and staring at Bart for a moment. “You _know_ her?” 

“Yeah,” Bart grinned, “she was totally into me when I was in Smallville.”

He stared at Bart. “When were _you_ in Smallville?” He shook his head a little, trying to remember if Bart had mentioned Smallville before grabbing some meteor rocks.

“Wait, a friend of _Clark’s_?” AC turned his head to stare at Bart. 

“Yeah man,” he told AC then turned to Oliver, “it was a little before I came to Star City, Clark was trying to get me to stop, you know stealing and stuff but it didn’t really work.” He shrugged. 

“Just so we’re clear, we are all talking about Clark Kent, right?” AC asked, glancing around. 

Vic pursed his lips. “Senator Kent’s son. You guys really don’t read the news, do you?” 

“No,” Bart and AC answered together.

“So, Clark’s mom is the Senator and you are dating her assistant and his friend who knows all the inside information we have about Lex?” AC asked. 

“We’re not dating,” Oliver said with a sigh. “We’re just friends.” Unfortunately, he thought.

“Good.” Bart grinned. 

“It makes sense she’d know so much if she know Clark, though.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Bart. “Yeah, well. Clark wasn’t exactly impressed with me,” he informed them.

“You met Clark too?” Bart asked, surprised. “Why didn’t you say something?”

Oliver raised his eyebrows. “Because...I wasn’t impressed with him, either?” 

“But he’s one of us! I mean, it’d be pretty awesome to have him on the team, have you _seen_ what he can do?” Bart asked.

He blinked, looking among the three of them. “Clark Kent is meta?” he asked dubiously.

AC smacked Bart’s head then shrugged, “yeah, or something like it anyway, people in that area seem to have weird powers, like the ones you guys found.”

Oliver sat back in his chair, falling silent as he contemplated what _that_ meant. 

“So, Chloe is helping us now?” Bart asked, still trying to make sense of what was going on. 

He glanced up. “She doesn’t know I’m Green Arrow, so she doesn’t really know she’s helping us.” 

“Oh,” Bart paused at that then nodded a little. 

“And what are you planning on doing when we need more information?” Vic asked.

“She told me I could call or email her,” he told them, raising his eyebrows. “Or show up again.” 

“I can go,” Bart offered, grinning at Oliver.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Does she know about your abilities?” 

“No,” he shrugged, sitting back against his chair, “but I can tell her, I don’t care about that, besides, pretty sure she knows about Clark.”

Oliver paused. “That would explain why she was holding back,” he murmured. “She’s trying to protect him.” 

“From what?” Bart frowned. 

“In case Green Arrow’s not as trustworthy as she hopes he is.” He exhaled slowly, staring at the wall for a long moment.

“She still gave you quite a bit,” Vic pointed out, motioning to the documents on the table, “I think we’re good.”

He nodded at that, glancing at Victor and raising his eyebrows a bit. “So we might not need her help anymore.” It wasn’t a question.

“We can always use more dirt on Lex.” Vic said, giving Oliver a knowing look. 

Oliver pursed his lips, nodding as he rose to his feet. “I think I’m gonna go for a run.” He needed time to clear his head.

“I thought we were having a meeting?” Bart frowned. 

“Meeting is over, Impulse.” Vic told him, shaking his head.

Oliver smiled faintly. “Feel free to stay and enjoy the rest of the pizza. I’ll be back after awhile.” He headed toward his room to go change.

“Like he needs to be told that,” AC smirked.

He simply shook his head and made his way down the hall, changing clothes with a soft sigh. He had a feeling it was going to be a _long_ run.


	6. Chapter 6

  
  


Chloe was just making her way back to the office when her phone started to ring, she smiled when she saw her cousin’s name on the screen, they had been playing phone-tag for the last couple of days but they were both so busy, it was hard to find a time to talk, “hey Lo, finally.” She greeted.

Lois smirked at that. “You’re telling me.” 

“How are you?” Chloe asked as she unlocked the door and stepped in.

“I’m all right. Busy,” she admitted. “I had no idea how hard it would be keeping Clark Kent out of trouble.” 

“What has he been doing lately besides moping about Lana?” Chloe asked. 

The brunette rolled her eyes. “Almost getting caught like, every five minutes. Honestly, was the guy born without any common sense or the instinct of self-preservation?” 

“No, he had some,” Chloe sighed, “I guess it just got worse since everything happened with Mr. Kent and then Lana...”

Lois sighed, too. “And it’s doubly-hard keeping him out of trouble because he still doesn’t know that I know his secret. Honestly, Chlo, how did you do this?” 

“It’s tiring, I know,” Chloe told her quietly, sighing, “and I’m really sorry you’re stuck there doing this on your own. maybe its time to shake him up and make him see he needs to be more careful.”

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty,” she told her cousin. “I get why you had to go. I do.” She took a drink of her coffee. “But you might be right. And speaking of shaking things up, have you spoken to that gorgeous hunk of billionaire lately?” 

Chloe held her breath at that and shook her head, “no, not really,” she said quietly. She felt guilty about not telling Lois about Green Arrow but considering she just wouldn’t let go of the Oliver Queen thing, she figured it was probably better this way. 

“You should call him.” 

“I’m sure he’s busy, Lois, and besides, what’s the point? He lives in California.” Chloe pointed out. 

“He has his own jet,” Lois retorted. “And he likes you. Make a move, Chloe!” 

“I don’t know, Lo, I haven’t heard anything from him since Thanksgiving...” she admitted. 

“Which was only a few days ago,” she reminded her, raising her eyebrows. 

“A week,” Chloe told her, shaking her head, “I don’t want to bother him, Lois.”

“What is the _worst_ that could happen, really?” she asked.

“I don’t-- know.” Chloe said, frowning when she really couldn’t think of a reason not to other than the man in green leather. 

“Then _go_ for it. Even if you don’t turn out to be soulmates, I’ve heard he’s incredible in bed.” 

“Thanks for the insight into the gossip column,” Chloe told her cousin, shaking her head. 

Lois smirked. “Sometimes it’s the most important news.” 

“Someday, you will learn to block those out,” she sighed, “and anyway, shouldn’t we be discussing the Clark intervention?” 

“No, no. This is _much_ more entertaining.” She grinned.

Chloe sighed softly and shook her head, finally sitting down, “there’s really not much more to say about it.”

“When _was_ the last time you had decent sex?” 

She groaned at the question and shook her head, “we’re not discussing my lack of sex life, Lois.” Mostly because the answer to _decent_ sex was never.

“That’s it then. Either you call him, or I will.” Lois raised her eyebrows.

“You don’t have his number.” Chloe said, arching her eyebrows. 

“Not true. I snagged one of his business cards on Thanksgiving.” She smirked, clearly proud of herself.

“You _stole_ from him? Lois...” she shook her head, mostly trying to change the subject. 

“Oh, please. It was a business card, Chloe. It’s not like I stole his wallet.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t?” She teased, smirking a little

“Believe me, I thought about it.” 

“What would the General say...” She told Lois.

“Stop getting off track,” Lois ordered. “Call him. You have three days.” 

”You are not calling him,” she warned. 

“Then you better before I do. You _know_ I will.” 

“I’m telling you not to,” Chloe said, her voice serious. 

“Then _call_ him,” Lois pressed.

“It’s complicated, Lois.” She told her. 

“How so? Explain it to me.” 

There’s another guy who is equally unavailable and incredibly hot who I’m very much interested in but might never see him again. She sighed as she tried to think of an actual answer, “look who he is, Lois and he is supporting Mrs. Kent. I don’t want to mess that up.”

Lois huffed. “Did you miss the way he was looking at you all through dinner?” 

“You’re seeing things.” She told her. 

“And you’re as blind as a certain farmboy with both know.” 

“Speaking of certain farmboy, maybe you should be focusing on him and not me, I’m fine.” Chloe pressed. 

“I’ll be the judge of that. I _am_ the older cousin here.” 

“Uh huh, now you are.” Chloe smiled softly, shaking her head.

“Hey, I’ve always been the older cousin,” Lois protested.

“I should get to work,” she told Lois, shaking her head, “I just got here and Mrs. Kent left me a pile of things to go through.”

“All right, all right. I’ll let you get to work. Call the beautiful billionaire,” Lois said, smirking.

“Bye, Lois.” Chloe said, rolling her eyes a little.

“Call him!” she yelled into the phone before she hung up.

“Ow,” she frowned, pulling the phone away from her ear and shaking her head then sighing. She loved her cousin, but her ability to be as persistent as she was was sometimes frustrating. 

Sighing softly, she pulled her laptop from her bag and opened it, pursing her lips together. Of course now she was _thinking_ about Oliver. And about the almost kiss with Green Arrow. But she had work she had to focus on, even if she just might have to do a quick google search on what the two of them were up to before she started on it.

* * * 

He made sure to wait until it was a decent time on the East coast before dialing her cell phone number, which he’d gotten from her cousin when the other woman had texted him asking him if he could try and give Chloe a call and make sure she was all right. Immediately, his chest had tightened and a knot had formed in his stomach as he wondered what had happened and why Lois wasn’t calling her herself. He waited anxiously for her to pick up the other end of the line as he paced his office.

It took her a few rings before she could find her phone in the pile of papers that was the desk, she had managed to somehow spread them all around while she was trying to gather ideas to write Mrs. Kent’s next speech, when she finally found it, she nearly knocked the laptop over, which turned into a series of quick moves between making sure it was secured and picking up the phone, “hello?” She asked a little breathlessly. 

“Chloe?” His voice was filled with worry. “Are you all right?” 

She stilled and blinked a couple of times, her eyes widening slowly, “Oliver?”

“Yeah, it’s me. You sound out of breath. Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah,” she breathed, shaking her head a little, “yeah, I nearly dropped my laptop when i reached for the phone, but everything is okay.”

“You’re sure?” he asked uncertainly, frowning worriedly.

“Yeah...” she repeated, frowning as she sat back down, “why?”

“Just making sure.” He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “How are you?” 

“Okay.” She told him, feeling like he had asked that question three times already, “how are you?”

“I’m good,” he assured her, reluctantly sitting down at his desk once more and rubbing a hand over his face. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lois was mentally stable or not. 

“That’s good,” she said quietly, arching her eyebrows suspiciously.

“I meant to call a few days ago, but work’s kept me pretty tied up,” he said apologetically.

“I’ve been pretty busy myself,” she said, cocking her head a little, “did you finally get a break?”

“Just a minor one, unfortunately,” Oliver admitted with a small smile. “But someday.” 

“Someday,” she agreed, pursing her lips together, “this might sound strange but... did my cousin Lois talk you into this?”

He blinked a couple of times. “Talk me into what?” he asked, honestly uncertain.

“Calling me,” Chloe told him, her chest tightening suddenly.

“She texted me and told me she was worried about you, but I can assure you I didn’t need her to _talk me into_ anything,” he said firmly.

She sighed deeply at that and shook her head, “I’m really sorry she bothered you.”

“She didn’t,” Oliver said, frowning. “Like I said, I’d been meaning to call.” 

Chloe chewed on her bottom lip, “I’m sure you are busy and she made you feel like you had to call me right now to check on me.”

“Chloe, I’m not too busy for _you_ ,” he said, sitting forward in his chair and feeling his chest tighten. 

Her own chest tightened and she closed her eyes at that, not entirely sure why the words were bothering her so much, “I didn’t mean to imply that, I’m sorry.”

“Hey.” His voice grew softer when he spoke. “You don’t need to apologize. I know it seems like I only called because of Lois, but truthfully...I’ve missed talking to you the last few days.” 

She held her breath at that and let it out slowly, leaning back against her chair, “it is good to talk to you,” she admitted quietly but sincerely.

“Yeah?” A smile tugged at his mouth.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, before taking a deep breath. “Lois was-- trying to get me to call you this morning, threatening to call you herself if I didn’t. I just didn’t want to interrupt anything.”

“ _You_ are always welcome to interrupt me,” he informed her, smile widening a little. “Seriously.” 

Chloe blinked a couple of times, surprised by the words, “I will keep that in mind.”

“Good.” He leaned back in his chair once more.

“Are you back in Star City or still in Metropolis?” She asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Star City,” he said with a soft sigh. “At least for the moment.” 

“Where to next?” She asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Chicago tomorrow, Boston the day after, and then...” He paused, raising his eyebrows. “DC, actually.” 

Chloe paused at that, blinking a little, “you’re coming back so soon?”

“Yeah. Business is a little hectic. There’s a potential investor who wants to meet with me,” he told her.

“Oh, that’s a good thing,” she said, arching her eyebrows. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was going to be busy while he was there, now she really wanted to see him.

“I was thinking, if you weren’t busy, maybe we could have dinner?” He held his breath.

Chloe held her own breath at that and nodded slightly, “yeah,” she whispered, “that sounds nice.”

“Great,” he said softly, smiling again as he relaxed. 

“When are you planning on being here again? In three days?”

“Yeah. Friday,” he told her.

“Oh,” she nodded, arching her eyebrows, “that works out really well, actually.”

“Really? That’s great.” 

“Yeah,” she smiled, “I should be done with the paper by then, so, I won’t have as busy a schedule. We’re going into winter break soon.”

“Oh, right. I forgot that’s right around the corner.” He smiled a little.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “a break from school anyway,” she smiled softly then paused, if he didn’t have people to spend Thanksgiving with, Christmas was probably even worse. 

“How long is your break?” he asked curiously.

“About five weeks,” she told him, “I’m taking a class online for it, but it should be pretty easy.”

“Five weeks is a nice break.” He didn’t even see his door open or Vic walk in, he was so absorbed in their conversation.

“It is, although I’ll miss the paper,” she admitted, shifting as she tried to think of how to ask him about Christmas. 

Oliver couldn’t help but smile at her admission. He was fairly certain that if he had a five week vacation from Queen Industries he wouldn’t miss it. He paused, chewing the inside of his cheek. What he _would_ miss was being Green Arrow. “Yeah, I get that,” he said quietly.

“Are you allowing yourself a break for Christmas?” She asked, holding her breath a little. 

“To be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought.” 

“Well, I’m not really sure what I’m doing yet either but... if you don’t have anywhere to go, let me know.” She told him, closing her eyes tightly as she waited. 

Oliver held his breath for a moment. “You’d be willing to let me tag along for your Christmas plans?” 

“If you’re not doing anything.” She said, holding her own breath, “I mean, I have no clue what I’m doing yet either, I might just spend it with the Kents, but if you want to do that...”

He hesitated. “I’m not sure Clark would appreciate my presence for two holidays in a row,” he admitted. “I kind of got the impression that he didn’t like me much.” 

“It’s very hard for him to accept new people around,” Chloe said, wincing, “I understand if you’re not comfortable with it, but you shouldn’t take it personally. And like I said, I’m not sure what I’m doing yet.”

“Well, I’m not at all opposed to spending Christmas with you,” he said quietly. “So if you’re really okay with spending it with _me_ , I’m good with whatever we wind up doing.” 

She couldn’t help but smile at his answer and she nodded a little, “so I should let you know when I have plans?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he agreed with a soft smile of his own. “Why don’t I give you a call when I get into the city Friday? So we can talk more about dinner plans?” 

“Sounds good,” she nodded a little, “I’ll talk to you then.”

“All right. It was good talking to you. Have a good day,” he said.

“Good talking to you too” she answered, “have a good day yourself,” she told him before hanging up.

Sighing softly as he hung up, he sat back in his chair, startled to see Victor standing a few feet away. “When did you get here?” 

“Christmas, huh?” Victor said, ignoring the questions, “sounds serious.”

He rolled his eyes. “She was just being nice.” 

“She would be just being nice if all she agreed was to dinner, if she invited you for Christmas, she’s interested.” He told him, taking a seat across from him. 

Oliver paused at that, considering. “You think so?” 

“Of course,” he nodded, “Christmas is a big deal.”

“I can’t say the interest is one-sided,” he confessed, chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Well, that’s obvious,” Victor smirked.

He gave the other man a look, shaking his head a little. “It doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.” 

“Why not?” He asked curiously.

Oliver pursed his lips. “She doesn’t know about me, for one.” 

“Well, she doesn’t know you are both the same person, but she seems to trust Green Arrow.” He pointed out. 

“Yeah.” He nodded slightly. “But what’s the likelihood of any kind of real relationship working out if she doesn’t know the truth?” 

“Why wouldn’t she know the truth?” He frowned once again. 

“Are you saying I should tell her?” 

“Maybe not right away,” he told him, “but she already knows Green Arrow and as long as you think he doesn’t seem to bother her, it’s an option, right?”

“It’s an option,” he murmured. “I’m just not sure how _safe_ of an option it is.” 

“if she’s already digging stuff on Luthor, it might not make much of a difference.” He pointed out.

He leaned forward. “If I tell her I’m Green Arrow, it won’t take her long to figure out the rest of your identities. She’s sharp.” 

“If she’s going to be helping us, it might make things easier, so it comes down to this: do you trust her enough for it?” Victor asked. 

“My gut tells me there’s not many people more trustworthy,” Oliver said honestly.

Victor nodded slightly at that, “then you have your answer.” 

Oliver held his breath for a moment. “I guess I do,” he murmured.

“Good luck with that,” he smirked a little, “she’ll either be excited or be pissed you were talking to her without telling her the truth.”

“Somehow I think she’ll understand.” 

“Good,” he nodded a little, “because you’ve got it bad.”

He rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother trying to deny it. It wasn’t like Vic was wrong.

“But I did come here for a reason,” he told him, sitting up and growing serious. 

“Okay.” Oliver sat up a little, as well. “What’s going on?” 

“The older woman, the one who was the first one you found?” He told Oliver. 

He felt his chest tighten. “Yeah? What about her?” 

“Well, she seems to be stable now, but he still can’t get her to wake up from the coma.” He told him, “he thinks that the drugs might have shut down something, or the lack of them are keeping her from waking up, he’s not sure. “

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face. “What is he suggesting?” 

“He’s still trying to recreate the drug, but with her unconscious, he is asking if there is a way we could track down her family, having DNA to compare hers to would help the research.” 

Oliver paused, raising his eyebrows. “Do we have any idea who she is yet?” 

“He asked for a fingerprints test, but nothing yet.” He told him.

“All right. Well, as soon as we get an ID on her, we can start looking, but until then we don’t really have anything to go on.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. 

“Well,” Victor arched his eyebrows, “unless I try hacking Luthor’s system again.”

Oliver smirked a little. “Go for it.” 

“I’ll let you know how it goes,” he said, smirking a little, “when do you leave?”

“I have to be in Chicago by morning, Boston by Thursday and DC by Friday.”

“And then, no clue when you’re leaving DC, right?” He teased. 

He gave Victor a look but didn’t respond.

“See you later,” Victor grinned at him before leaving the office. 

Oliver watched him go, shaking his head a little with vague amusement.


	7. Chapter 7

Oliver couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as he made his way toward the Senator’s office. He knew she was still out of town and back in Kansas, and for that he was grateful. He’d called Chloe hours earlier when his jet had first landed at the airport, letting her know he’d made it to the city, and they’d agreed he would just meet her at the office before they headed to dinner, since they hadn’t yet chosen a place. He held a bouquet of red roses in his hand as he walked down the corridor and knocked lightly on the door. 

“Come in,” Chloe called, holding her breath as she stood up. She was pretty much done with work, but she was a little behind because she had gone back to the dorm, showered and changed before getting back there to meet him. It was silly, maybe but she wanted to look at least presentable. 

He stepped inside, his chest tightening ever-so-slightly as he saw her. “Hi,” he said with a soft smile. 

“Hi,” she greeted, smiling back at him and holding her breath for a moment.

“These are for you.” He held up the bouquet, taking a few more steps toward her.

Her eyes widened slightly as she reached for the flowers, “thank you,” she breathed, “you didn’t have to do that.

Oliver smiled a little at that, handing them to her. “I wasn’t sure what kind of flowers you liked, so I just stuck with the classic,” he admitted. “And...I wanted to.” 

“They are beautiful,” she told him quietly, nodding, “thank you.” 

He nodded, too, holding his breath once more. “You look beautiful.” 

“Thank you,” she said again, blushing and shaking her head, “let me, hm, find something to put these in.”

“All right.” He smiled, sliding his hands into his pockets and glancing around.

She smiled back at him and stared for a second before making her way into the bathroom, coming back a moment later, “they should be okay there until I get back to pick them up.” 

“Great.” He smiled again. “What sounds good for dinner?” 

“Why don’t you pick this time?” She asked as she turned off her laptop.

He cocked his head to the side. “Do you like Italian?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded, smiling, “I like it a lot.”

“Great.” His eyes were bright as he met her gaze. “Do you want to drive or should we call for a taxi?” 

“My car is back in campus so, taxi?” She suggested. Not that she had left her car there and taken a cab back to work on purpose or anything. 

Nodding, he offered her his arm, holding his breath to see if she would take it. 

She grabbed her purse then paused at his offered arm, holding her own breath before taking it and smiling softly.

Oliver relaxed, smiling back at her. “It’s good to see you again,” he admitted quietly. 

“It’s good to see you too,” she said just as quietly, looking up at him. “Did you fly in this morning?”

“Yeah. I had just landed when I called you,” he told her as he met her gaze once more.

She couldn’t help the butterflies in her stomach, “how were Chicago and Boston?”

“They were okay, I guess. A little dull.” He smiled as they walked down the corridor together. 

“I’ve never been,” she admitted, “but I guess now that I’m up here I can just take the train.”

“They’re interesting if you’ve never been and you have some free time,” he told her. “You should definitely check them out sometime.” 

“I will, maybe before classes start back up.” she said quietly, “which one do you like better?”

He thought about it for a moment. “They both have a lot of museums. You’d probably like the Field Museum in Chicago. There’s a ton of interesting exhibits there.” 

“Field museum? What kind of exhibits?” She asked curiously. 

He grinned. “Dinosaurs. Mummies. Artifacts and information from cultures all over the world.” 

“Hm,” she nodded, arching her eyebrows and smiling when he grinned, he looked amazing when he grinned, “sounds very interesting, I’ll have to do that.”

“As long as you don’t think I’m a big dork right now,” he teased.

“Oh I thought that since the spy museum conversation,” she teased back and grinned. 

His eyes widened and he looked down at her. “Spies of a feather?” 

Chloe actually laughed both at the look on his face and what he said, “fair.”

“I thought so.” He patted her hand lightly and led her to the lobby. 

She smiled and shook her head a little, “we might have a hard time finding a cab here, on a Friday night.”

“Well, there’s an Italian place a few blocks from here if you’re okay with walking unless we see a taxi.” He raised his eyebrows.

“I’m wearing low heels so that works for me,” she smiled, nodding slightly.

Oliver grinned. “If you get tired or your feet start to hurt, just let me know.” 

“Well, the closer we are to downtown, the harder it will be to get a cab,” she told him, “but I think I’ll be okay.”

Nodding, he glanced up and around as they walked. “It’s definitely getting colder.” 

“Yeah, we haven’t had snow yet, not really enough to stick anyway, I’m a little disappointed,” she teased.

“Bizarre,” he teased back, shaking his head. 

“It’s tradition,” she grinned.

“Before declaring it freezing cold?” 

“No, _that’s_ the tradition,” she smirked at him.

He smirked back at her, amused. “I like _my_ tradition better.” 

“What is that?” She asked, cocking her head.

“Being able to go to the beach every single day.” He grinned.

“Do you actually go to the beach every single day when you’re in California?” She asked, smirking as she watched him closely.

“No, not even close.” He chuckled. “But the knowledge that I _could_ if I wanted to is comforting.” 

“That’s what I thought,” she grinned, shaking her head.

“You’d really prefer cold weather over year-round seventy degrees?” he asked curiously.

“No, the occasional colder weather is nice though,” she told him, shrugging a little.

Oliver nodded, falling silent for a moment as they walked. 

“When are you heading back to your 70 degree weather?” She asked, glancing up at him.

“I don’t know. I was thinking of taking a break.” A smile tugged at his mouth.

She grinned softly at that and arched her eyebrows, “really?”

“Mmhm.” He nodded, glancing at her sideways and smiling a bit more when he saw she was also smiling. “And there’s a lot to do in DC...” 

Her heart skipped a beat at that and she nodded a little, “there is.”

When she agreed, his smile brightened even more. “I think I’m going to like this break.” 

“I think I am too,” she said, smiling brightly back at him.

* * * 

Dinner had been amazing between the rich Italian foods, and the fact that their conversation had been so easy and relaxed, the way it always was when they were together. He’d had a single glass of wine, because he didn’t want to be _too_ relaxed, and after he paid for their meals, he’d taken her hand and walked with her back outside once more. The streets were busy even though it was late, but he supposed it was just part of big city life. Star City was big, but at night most people went home, or were cooped up at work. At least the _good_ people. The others were the reason he did what he did in his after-hours job. 

His thumb was gently rubbing her knuckles as they walked down the sidewalk toward no place in particular. “Thank you for agreeing to meet me for dinner.” 

Chloe squeezed his hand a little and held her breath, she felt pretty relaxed herself, and she hadn’t even had wine, no reason to risk getting him in trouble after all. Besides, his company was intoxicating enough, in an amazing way, “thank you for inviting me, and for finding your way back to the city.”

He smiled softly at that, glancing at her sideways and holding his breath for a moment. “Well, the night doesn’t have to end just yet.” 

“What do you have in mind?” She asked, holding her breath as well as she looked up at him.

Oliver met her gaze, his expression soft. “You could come back with me,” he murmured.

Her stomach tightened and she paused then nodded a little, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been thinking about it. A lot. Especially since he called her again, “I’d like that.”

He nodded ever-so-slightly. “Me too,” he said quietly.

Chloe squeezed his hand and nodded a little, “where are you staying?”

“Same place as before.” He held her gaze, squeezing her hand in return.

“Okay,” she nodded once again, holding his gaze back, “not too far,” she said quietly, glancing at his lips then meeting his eyes once more.

He dipped his head, lifting his free hand to cup her cheek as he kissed her softly on the mouth.

Holding her breath, she pressed her lips to his just as softly, her heart beating quickly against her chest and the simple kiss was enough to make her feel like sparkles of electricity were running through her. She squeezed his hand and lifted her free one to his elbow.

After a long moment, he reluctantly pulled away, his eyes darker than before. “Come on.” He drew in a breath, looking dazed.

With a deep breath of her own, Chloe nodded, “yeah,” she agreed quietly, she definitely couldn’t wait to do _that_ again.

* * *

Within a few moments, he’d managed to hail them a cab and before he knew it, they were climbing out of said cab and heading toward the front of his hotel, her fingers interwoven with hers. 

She held onto his hand as he pulled her out of the cab, holding her breath and looking up at him before smiling at him. 

He smiled back without hesitation, his eyes bright. He squeezed her hand lightly and led her into the lobby of the hotel, nodding at the doorman when the man greeted them.

Chloe held her breath and glanced up at him, then around the lobby of the hotel as they made their way back into the elevator, both of them extremely quiet since they got into the cab. 

He looked down at her as they waited for the elevator to arrive at the correct floor. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek once more, his thumb brushing lightly over her skin. 

She held her breath and looked up at him for a moment before tiptoeing and pressing her lips to his once more as she lifted her hands to his arms. 

A soft groan escaped him as his free arm wrapped around her, pulling her up against him as they kissed, the hand on her cheek moving to tangle in her hair. 

Chloe lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, pulling closer to him as she deepened the kiss.

When the elevator stopped, he reluctantly ended the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers as he tried to catch his breath. He smiled at her, taking her hand once more. “I’m just down the hall.” 

“Okay,” she told him, chewing on her bottom lip as she followed him out of the elevator a little breathlessly. 

Oliver led her down the hall, using his key card to let them into his suite and holding the door open for her, then shutting and locking it behind them. He set the key card down on the little square table by the door and held his breath. 

She didn’t really notice the look on his face, she was too busy looking around the _massive_ hotel room, her eyes wide, “wow.”

He smiled faintly at her reaction. “You want something to drink?” he offered.

“Sure,” she breathed, blinking, “you have a _piano_ in here?” She asked, turning to look at him. 

He grinned a little, shrugging. “I’ll admit the piano is kind of overkill. Do you play?” 

“Not at all, do you?” She asked, cocking her head.

“No. We had to pick one of the fine arts to specialize in at Excelsior, but I didn’t choose music.” 

“What did you choose?” She asked, more curious now.

Oliver pursed his lips. “Culinary arts,” he admitted. 

“Oh,” she blinked, nodding a little, “explains the casserole,” she grinned softly, relaxing a little.

He grinned, too, ducking his head a little. “It seemed like the most logical skill to pursue,” he told her. “I actually wound up enjoying it.” 

“And you are good at it,” she told him sincerely, smiling. 

“Thank you,” he said just as sincerely, his eyes bright. 

“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling at the look on his face.

“Let me just...get you that drink.” He headed toward the small refrigerator across the room. “What would you like?” 

“Hm, what are you having?” She asked, pursing her lips together and following him.

“I was just going to have water, but there’s a variety.” He held the door open so she could look inside. 

“Water sounds good,” she shrugged a little and smiled at him. 

Nodding, he pulled out two bottles of water, handing one to her even as he unscrewed the cap to his own water bottle. He took a drink, his gaze lingering on her intently. 

Chloe held her breath at the look on his face then took a drink too, even as she kept her eyes on him, her heart beginning to beat faster again. 

He set his water bottle down on the counter, stepping closer to her once more. “I just want you to know that, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he murmured. “I’m not that kinda guy.” 

She let out a breath at that and nodded a little, “I didn’t think you were,” she shrugged slightly, “I’m here because I want to be.”

Oliver nodded, too, then reached out and rested his hands lightly on her hips, gazing at her intently. 

She placed her water down on the counter then lifted her hands to his arms, holding his gaze as she stepped closer. 

He searched her eyes, then dipped his head to kiss her again, shifting closer to her.

Chloe kissed him back instantly, squeezing his arms slightly as she stepped closer too. 

After a moment, he picked her up, setting her on the counter so they were at eye level with one another. 

She held her breath and pulled away, grinning softly and shaking her head, “convenient.”

He grinned back at her. “I think so.” He winked at her, then pressed his lips to her jaw, kissing her there lightly. 

She shivered at that, closing her eyes and relaxing a little more, she didn’t even care if this was a mistake in the future, definitely didn’t feel like one now.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, trailing slow kisses down her jaw and across her neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered, lifting her free hand to the back of his neck and smiling. 

Oliver lifted his gaze to look at her once more and returned her smile, stroking her cheek once more. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he confessed. “Since the day we met.” 

She held her breath and blushed at that, nodding, “me too,” she whispered, feeling a little guilty now about the whole Green Arrow thing, which wasn’t even really a thing. 

“Yeah?” He searched her eyes. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, holding his gaze.

He smiled again, brushing his nose over hers lightly and kissing her once more. 

Chloe kissed him back, shifting toward the edge of the counter, closer to him. 

Oliver’s arms slid around her back once more as they kissed, enjoying the softness of her mouth against his own, at the scent of her shampoo. She was intoxicating and he wanted more. 

She did too, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, sitting up so their bodies were pressed closer together as they kissed. 

Wordlessly, he pulled her off the counter once more, carrying her in his arms toward the bedroom, his heart beating heavily in his chest. 

She wrapped her legs around him without hesitation as she pulled back to look at him, holding her breath. 

Oliver carried her over to the bed and gently set her on the edge of it, meeting her eyes. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly. 

“Yeah,” she told him, looking up at him and nodding slightly. 

He smiled faintly, sitting down beside her and resting his hands at her waist once more. 

She turned to face him, smiling too and lifting a hand to the back of his neck. He grinned at her and kissed her once more, slowly and deeply, letting her take the lead. Chloe kissed him back, sitting up as she shifted closer to him, sliding her fingers into his hair.

Oliver tugged her even closer, until she was on his lap, his hands sliding just beneath the hemline of her shirt, fingers brushing against her bare skin. She shivered, holding her breath as she moved her legs to either side of him, deepening the kiss as she angled her head better. He smiled at her shiver, pressing a kiss against her neck.

Opening her eyes again, she brushed her nose against his ear then pressing a kiss below it, he smelled absolutely amazing, somewhat familiar. Oliver drew in a breath, nudging her backwards just a little as he grasped the bottom of her shirt, pulling away and raising his eyebrows in silent question.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she nodded a little as she kept her eyes on him. He smiled softly, carefully sliding her blouse off over her head and discarding it onto the floor, holding his breath as his gaze swept over her. 

She held her breath too then smiled shyly at him before looking down and reaching to unbutton his shirt.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, shifting to make it easier for her to undo the buttons on his shirt, and watching her as she did so.

Chloe glanced up at him then continued on the buttons, when she finished, she slowly pushed the shirt back, holding her breath when she saw his chest, “you look amazing,” she murmured, brushing her fingertips down his body.

“So do you,” he said sincerely, meeting her eyes and smiling softly. He slid his hand gently down her back, dipping his head to kiss her again.

She shivered again, kissing him back as she pushed the shirt off of his shoulders and to the bed.

Oliver grinned against her mouth, nipping very gently at her lower lip then sliding his tongue over it to soothe it. 

She grinned and pulled back, arching her eyebrows at him before leaning forward and kissing him hard.

A soft groan escaped him and he slid his hand up and into her hair, returning the kiss with every bit as much urgency.

She moaned quietly against his mouth, moving her hands over his bare back as she pressed her chest against his, wanting to be closer.

Oliver shifted once more, leaning backwards and carefully rolling them so they were on their sides facing one another. He smiled against her lips once more as his hand trailed down her bare skin to rest lightly on her stomach. 

Chloe shivered, biting down gently on his bottom lip, shifting but keeping one of her legs wrapped around him.

He groaned as she pressed her body against his, holding his breath for a moment and pulling away to look at her, his expression intense.

She looked over at him for a moment, holding her breath at the look on his face, then reached over to undo his belt even as she kept her eyes on him.

The expression on _her_ face was one of trust, with a hint of vulnerability and guilt made his chest tighten. “Wait,” he murmured, reaching down and stilling her hand gently.

Chloe blinked a couple of times as she stilled, looking up at him, “okay?” She said uncertainly. 

“There’s something...” He held his breath for a moment, then exhaled slowly. “There’s something you need to know. That I need to tell you,” he admitted, reaching up and cupping her cheek in his hand.

“Oh,” she blinked a couple of times and nodded a little, pulling her leg back from around him, she just hoped he didn’t have some kind of disease. But she couldn’t imagine what else it could be that couldn’t wait.

He gazed at her for a long moment, then leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to the corner of her mouth just as he’d done the night he’d met her on the roof of her dorm as Green Arrow.

She froze, blinking a few times then sitting up quickly as she stared at him, her heart beating fast at the familiarity of the gesture. Mostly because she had obsessed over the simple kiss for days after that. Had been unable to stop thinking about it until she got the call from Oliver. But it couldn’t be. There was absolutely _no_ way. Was there?

Oliver sat up slowly when she moved, but didn’t take his eyes off her as he held his breath, nodding ever-so-slightly, but not speaking, knowing she’d immediately remembered, given her reaction and the wide-eyed look on her face. 

Chloe swallowed hard when he nodded, her eyes widening even more, “you mean...” she was too afraid to say it and be completely wrong, even though she knew she wasn’t.

“I am Green Arrow,” he said softly, watching her closely. 

She let out her breath slowly, still staring at him, “it was you all along.” She whispered, her stomach in knots now.

“I wanted to tell you sooner,” he whispered. “But it’s not just my life on the line.” 

Chloe shook her head a little, taking a deep breath, “why are you telling me this now?”

His chest tightened. “Because I trust you, Chloe,” he admitted. “And I know this whole thing between us has no chance of lasting if I’m not honest with you and...” He looked down for a moment. “I really like you a lot.” 

Her face softened even as her own chest tightened, with a deep breath, she nodded, “thank you,” she whispered.

Oliver cocked his head to the side a little, uncertain about her reaction. 

“For trusting me,” she told him, shaking her head a little, “I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”

“Well, to be fair, it’s kind of out there.” He smiled faintly.

“But I knew both of them, you.” She said, “kind of.”

He chewed the inside of his cheek. “But the two images are kinda hard to see as one.” 

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” She asked, smiling softly.

He relaxed a little when she smiled. “Yeah.” 

“And as a reporter, I should have realized,” she told him, shaking her head again, “I can’t believe you are him.”

“Can’t believe it in a good way or a bad way?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Good,” she breathed, “good, I think. It does make things less complicated.”

Oliver held his breath as he searched her eyes, then nodded a little. “Yeah, I suppose it does.” 

“I was,” she paused, “thinking about both of you,” she admitted awkwardly. 

He arched his eyebrows, a smile threatening to emerge. “Oh yeah?” There was a faint glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

“Well it was your fault!” She told him, chewing on her bottom lip. 

“I suppose it is,” he agreed, nodding as he shifted closer to her once more. 

She smiled at that and nodded a little, “glad you agreed, because you just showed up here.” 

“Well, it seems that I’m having a hard time staying away from you,” he murmured. 

Chloe held her breath at that and smiled a little, “good.” 

He grinned at her response, kissing her softly on the mouth. “You’re really okay with this?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe breathed, nodding slightly, “I mean,” she pulled back slightly, “I have questions.” She paused, “but I’m okay with it.”

Oliver met her eyes once more, then nodded a little. “I’m an open book,” he told her quietly, shifting and propping his head up on one hand, his elbow digging into the mattress. 

“Are you sure you want to say that to a reporter?” She smirked, shifting closer and laying back down sideways. 

He smirked back at her. “Only to a very specific, very beautiful blonde reporter that I trust,” he responded. 

She laid down sideways on her elbow too and nodded, “why do you do it?”

“Because a lot of people out there need help,” he said quietly. “And if someone doesn’t step up and help out...” He shrugged a little. “Where would we be?” 

Her face softened and she nodded a little, taking a deep breath, “good answer. But-- you don’t have any powers, do you?”

Oliver smiled faintly at that, and shook his head. “No powers,” he admitted. 

“Wow,” she said quietly, nodding a little, “that makes it even more impressive.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her. “Thanks,” he said softly.

She smiled and shook her head a little, shifting a little closer, “so why did you come see me as him?”

His expression grew serious. “For the reasons I told you that night.” 

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, looking down then back at him, “do you really know how dangerous he is?”

“Yeah.” His jaw tightened a little. “And I know that you do, too.” 

Nodding, she frowned a little, “how did you know I would be able to help?”

“Gut feeling. After I read most of your articles from the Torch about the meteor-infected people in Smallville.” He paused. “And because a mutual acquaintance agreed.” 

“Mutual acquaintance?” She frowned, cocking her head. 

“His name’s Bart,” he said quietly. “He said the two of you met sometime last year.” And that she had been really _into_ him.

“Bart?” She squinted a little, frowning, “where did I meet him?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “He didn’t give me a lot of details.” 

“Oh,” she shrugged a little, “I don’t really remember anyone named Bart.”

Oliver relaxed a little, glad for his own selfish reasons that she didn’t. “He’s a friend of mine. We have a sort of...team.” 

“A team?” She asked curiously, arching her eyebrows. 

“We work together doing the ‘take down Lex Luthor’ type of business.” He smiled a bit.

“Oh,” she blinked, “so where are others doing this?”

“All over,” he admitted. “Not just one place.” 

“All on your team?” She asked, holding her breath.

He nodded slightly. “There are four of us right now,” he told her quietly.

“Have you guys been doing this for a while?” She asked, “I mean, I know about you, but as a team.”

“For a few months.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “We’re still working on some of the details, but overall we function pretty well as a team, I think.” 

“Good,” she nodded a little, “you will need to to take him down.”

“I figured as much.” He blew out a breath, gazing at her intently. 

“How did you figure out he was using the meteor rocks on his research?” She asked, cocking her head slightly.

“From one of my other team members that was born and raised in Kansas,” he told her. “Then Bart ran and got some to compare to the results of the tests with and turned out he was accurate.” 

“Ran?” She blinked, “you mean... literally? Weren’t you in California?”

Oliver smiled, nodding. “Yeah. Bart’s meta.” 

“Oh.” She paused, “how long did it take him to get back?”

He raised his eyebrows. “About twenty seconds?” 

“Woah,” she blinked, “twenty seconds? That’s amazing.”

Oliver pursed his lips, nodding once more. “Yeah, it is.” 

“What about the others? Are they meta too?” She asked, watching him closely.

“Yeah, they are,” he confirmed.

“What can they do?” She asked then paused, “and it’s okay if you can’t tell me.”

“No, it’s all right. I actually...we all discussed it,” Oliver admitted. 

“Discussed it?” She echoed, arching her eyebrows.

“Me telling you,” he said softly. “We discussed it.” 

“And they were okay with it?” She gasped, surprised.

“Bart was okay with it immediately. Victor and AC trust my gut,” he told her with a small smile. “I assume because my gut was the reason I trusted _them_.” 

“But they don’t even know me,” she told him, “and even you didn’t know me that well.”

“Like I said, gut feeling. Plus Bart said you knew about Clark’s meteor-infection.” 

Her eyes widened at that and she sat up again, “how does Bart know I know?”

Oliver blinked at her reaction. “I assumed Clark told him,” he said, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“Clark doesn’t know,” she told him, holding her breath.

He sat up slowly. “Clark doesn’t know that you know his secret?” 

“No, he has no idea,” she told him, shaking her head, “I found out by accident and he would freak out if he knew.”

His eyebrows furrowed once more. “Because he’s freaked out about it himself?” 

“I’m not entirely sure why, since we never talked about it, but my guess is that his dad was too afraid someone would ever find out and made him feel like he had to hide it.” She shrugged slightly, “so whenever you see Bart, you need to ask him not to tell Clark he knows, if they still talk.”

Oliver relaxed a little, though his expression grew a little sadder. “Yeah, I can do that,” he assured her, reaching out and resting his hand on her arm.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. Letting out her breath to relax too.

He leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead and closing his eyes. 

She closed her eyes too, “it means a lot you told me.” She whispered.

“Thanks for being the kind of person I _could_ tell.” 

Chloe smiled at that then lifted her head, brushing her lips against him, her chest tight.

He reached up, cupping her cheek in one hand as he kissed her back, then pulled away to look at her, his expression filled with warmth.

She held her breath when she saw the look on his face and how open he seemed to be. Smiling slightly, she reached up and brushed her thumb against his jaw.

Oliver kissed her thumb softly, meeting her eyes once more and then leaning in to kiss her mouth.

Kissing him back, she shifted closer to him on the bed, moving her hand to the back of his neck.

He rolled them so she was underneath him, his eyes dark and intense once more as he gazed down at her, eager to finish what they’d started. And very glad he’d chosen to be honest with her.

Chloe smiled at him and shifted higher, kissing him once again. She had been right when she first met him, he was dangerous. And now she had twice as much reason to think so, but she was pretty sure it was too late to pull away and besides, if he trusted her this much already, she should definitely at least do the same for him.


	8. Chapter 8

  


“So, what did you think?” Chloe asked as they left the theater, taking his hand in hers as she looked up at him, smiling softly.

He smiled back. “I liked it,” he told her, lacing his fingers through hers. 

“Me too,” she agreed quietly. “good choice, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a movie theater.”

“Well, to be fair, you’re busy a lot with school and work,” he pointed out.

“Pretty much done with both now, Mrs. Kent goes back tomorrow.” She told him, smiling softly.

“True, which means you’re almost officially on vacation.” He grinned.

“I am,” she grinned back at him, “are you still working for the next week?” She asked.

“Just a few hours here and there. Not full time.” He winked at her. 

“Good,” she smiled, squeezing his hand, “when do you want to leave?”

“Whenever you’re ready.” He leaned down, kissing her temple. 

She closed her eyes and nodded a little, smiling, “I guess the 24th works? Should give us enough time.” She told him, even though they were only really officially dating for about a week, it felt right to be making plans like this with him.

“Yeah, that sounds good to me,” he agreed easily, opening her car door for her a moment later. 

“Thank you,” she smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek before getting into the car.

He smiled once more, leaning down and kissing her softly before pulling away and shutting the door, his eyes bright. The past few days, he’d felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. 

She grinned and took a deep breath, leaning back against her seat as she waited for him to get back in, “you can leave whatever extra stuff you have at my dorm,” she offered, “no reason for you to keep it in the hotel room.”

“Yeah?” He glanced at her sideways as he climbed into the passenger seat. “That’d be nice.” 

“Yeah,” she nodded, smiling as she started the car, “just doesn’t make sense to keep paying for a room you won’t use.”

He smiled at that, gazing at her. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she said, holding his gaze for a moment, “where are we going?”

“You wanna just go back to your place?” he asked, raising his eyebrows a little. “We can wait to run by the hotel til tomorrow if you want.” 

“Oh, you wanna move your stuff tomorrow?” She asked, surprised.

Oliver glanced at her again, pausing. “Oh. I thought that was what you--no, it’s fine.” He shook his head a little. 

“No,” she shook her head a little, “it’s fine,” she blinked, “just... the bed is kinda small, but it’s okay if you’re okay with that.”

“Well. Alternatively, we could run by your dorm, grab some of your stuff, and stay at the hotel. The bed’s bigger,” he offered.

“Well, but you’re paying for the hotel,” she pointed out, “the dorm is already paid for until may anyway. That’s why I thought it’d be better for you to leave your stuff there and let go of the room.”

He pursed his lips, nodding a little. “That’s fine with me, if you’re okay with it.” 

“Yeah,” she breathed, nodding a little, “as long as you don’t mind the mess.”

“Doesn’t bother me at all,” he assured her.

“You haven’t seen it yet,” she smiled a little, feeling nervous as she pulled onto traffic and started toward the dorm.

He chuckled a little. “Trust me, Bart and AC are not the most organized of people.” 

“You don’t live with them though, do you?” She asked.

“Well, it’s...sorta the other way around,” he admitted. “They all have rooms at my place in Star City.” 

“Oh,” she blinked, arching her eyebrows, “I guess that makes it easier with the team thing, right?”

“Yeah. I mean, they don’t live there full time or anything, but they’re there when they need to be.” 

“That makes sense,” she nodded, smiling at him, “are they there now?”

“Yeah, they’re taking turns patrolling the city,” he admitted.

“What about you?” She asked curiously.

“What about me?” 

“You haven’t been patrolling, have you?” She glanced at him.

“I’ve gone out a couple of times, here in DC. It makes Vic nervous if I patrol places Oliver Queen is known to be visiting,” he admitted. 

“Oh,” she arched her eyebrows, nodding a little, “that makes sense.”

“In some ways. But I don’t think too many people would really believe the possibility that the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen are the same guy.” 

“Probably not,” she smiled softly at him, “but you don’t want to risk it, right? I mean, the things that could happen if they found out...”

He grimaced a little, glancing at her sideways. “I can’t really imagine what kind of fall-out there would be.” 

“Probably better never to find out,” she said quietly, glancing at him, a worried expression now on her face.

“And I won’t,” he said just as quietly, reaching out and covering her hand with his own.

Chloe turned her fingers and wrapped around his, smiling a little and nodding. 

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and smiled softly, falling silent as she drove. 

A few moments later, she pulled up the the parking lot of her dorm, “luckily most people already left for winter break so it’s pretty empty.” She told him.

“So we’ve basically got your entire dorm to ourselves?” A small smirk formed on his mouth as he arched his eyebrows at her.

“I don’t know about the entire _dorm_ but definitely the third floor,” she said, shutting off the engine.

“Hm, still sounds like a lot of possibilities.” He winked at her, climbing out of the car and moving around to her door, opening it for her.

She grinned softly as she got out of the car then shook her head, “what kind of possibilities?”

Oliver flashed her a bright smile, waggling his eyebrows playfully.

Chloe smirked and arched her eyebrows, leaning closer and kissing him.

He returned the kiss without hesitation, sliding his arms around her and pulling her to him. 

Shifting closer, she kissed him for a moment longer then pulling back, “probably better if we do this inside where we won’t freeze to death.”

He grinned, meeting her eyes. “You have a point. California guys don’t deal with the cold very well.” 

“No, but I don’t think any guy does,” she smirked, reaching for his hand then pulling him toward the door.

He smirked, too, following her and squeezing her hand as they headed into the building. He glanced around curiously even as he let her lead him to the stairs.

She cocked her head when she saw the look on his face, “have you been in a dorm before?” She asked, “other than at your private school, that is.”

He shook his head a little. “No. I mean, I was going to go to school after I got back from my cruise, but...” He smiled faintly. “Well, that wound up being a two year trip.” 

“And you decided to do more important things with your life,” she grinned, pulling him up the stairs to her floor.

“Well, they say it’s never too late,” he murmured, glancing around the empty hallway. 

“Would you be interested in going back to school?” She asked, surprised.

“Maybe,” he admitted. “I mean, I took a lot of college classes _in_ high school.” 

“Well, if you’re going to be spending time at a dorm, might as well,” she grinned, teasing.

He couldn’t help but smile at her immediate support of the possibility. It wasn’t something he’d considered too much before--but he’d be lying if he’d said it had never occurred to him. “Yeah, maybe,” he agreed, winding his arms around her waist as she unlocked the door to her room. 

Chloe smiled and turned her head, kissing his cheek before reaching for the door and pausing, “are you sure you are ready for the mess?”

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “I think I can handle it.” 

She shivered, taking a deep breath, “or you could just keep your eyes closed the entire time you’re here.” She teased.

“Hmm, I don’t think that’s going to be possible.” 

“Okay,” she mock sighed, reaching for the light as she pulled him into the room.

Oliver smiled as he followed her into the room and shut the door behind them before glancing around, raising his eyebrows. The place was a little cluttered, but it wasn’t like things were piled so high he feared that an avalanche of papers or books was going to kill him. “You exaggerate, Ms. Sullivan,” he teased, spinning her around so she was facing him. 

She grinned and arched her eyebrows, dropping her purse to the floor and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He smiled at her, then brushed his nose over hers lightly. 

Chloe smiled back before brushing her lips to him, but keeping her eyes on his.

He lifted a hand to her cheek, searching her eyes. “I love your eyes,” he admitted quietly. 

Arching her eyebrows, she cocked her head a little, “thanks.” she said quietly, brushing her nose against his again.

He smiled. “And your hair,” he murmured, sliding his hand up and into her blond hair even as his mouth descended on hers. “And your lips...” 

“Is this a big, bad wolf thing?” She teased, wrapping her arms tighter against his neck so she could press herself against him.

Oliver chuckled softly. “No, don’t worry. I won’t bite.” He paused. “You know, unless you _want_ me to...” 

She grinned and shrugged a little, “as long as it’s not hard.” She joked.

He smirked, dipping his head and nibbling lightly down her neck. 

She shivered and laughed softly, shaking her head, “I hope you know I’m all about equal opportunity.” 

“That is good to know,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her earlobe and grinning.

Chloe smiled reaching for his jacket and unzipping it, “glad you agree.”

“Hard to agree with such wonderfully fine logic,” he informed her, shrugging out of the jacket and unzipping hers, too. 

Arching her eyebrows, she smiled at him, “I know,” she teased, shrugging her coat off too. “Should I give you a tour?”

“It would be polite,” he said, nodding as a smirk formed on his face. 

“Would hate to be rude,” she grinned, kissing him quickly once more before pulling away, “okay, we can start with the fact that I actually have a bathroom.”

“All to yourself?” He cocked his head to the side. 

“Mhmm,” she nodded, opening the door to a tiny bathroom to their left, “Mrs. Kent managed to get me into these dorms for the bathroom alone. They are more for older students who are married and their spouses are staying with them, so they are quieter and only singles with bathrooms.”

Oliver followed her, glancing around. “That was really nice of her.” 

“I know,” she agreed, smiling at him, “and it is closer to work, the other ones I was looking at were south of campus.”

He smiled softly down at her, touching her cheek. “This dorm seems pretty secure, too.” 

Chloe held her breath and nodded a little, looking up at him, “yeah, its a better area than south,” she smiled, “but it doesn’t matter since now I have an in with Super Heroes.”

He pressed his lips to her forehead, closing his eyes for a moment, nodding a little. 

She closed her eyes and reached for his hand, linking her fingers with his and squeezing it lightly, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” he assured her, squeezing her hand in return. “It’s just good to know that security here is good for when I’m _not_ around.” 

Pausing, she nodded slightly, although she tried not to think about that, she knew that he couldn’t just move into her dorm with her and he travelled a lot, so it wasn’t like he would be in town for extended periods of time. But they still had at least another week. “I’ll be okay.” She promised.

“Good,” he murmured, sliding his arms around her possessively.

Chloe arched her eyebrows and smiled at his actions, “DC is actually a lot safer than Metropolis and even safer than Smallville.”

“Maybe from meteor-infected people,” he remarked, gazing at her intently.

“And they are are much more dangerous than regular criminals, trust me.”

Oliver pursed his lips, nodding and kissing her forehead again. “And you’ve been fine without me for years,” he said lightly.

“And that doesn’t mean I mind the worry,” she said, hugging him close, “but I’m okay, I actually do feel a lot safer here.”

He searched her eyes for a moment, then relaxed a little, nodding and hugging her back. “Good,” he whispered.

She smiled at the look of his face and reached up, cupping his face with her hand, brushing her nose against his.

He smiled back at her instantly, leaning into her touch and then kissing her again. “All right, finish giving me the tour,” he teased.

Chloe kissed him once more, then grinned and pulled away, “well, here is the desk, under the paper, somewhere.” She arched her eyebrows.

He chuckled. “Really? A desk? Huh.” 

“It’s shy, it might come out eventually.” She smirked then motioned to a corner, “and the disaster area over there is my closet.”

He turned to look, smirking a little. “Hm. I think the problem is that the closet isn’t quite large enough.” 

“Isn’t it?” She agreed with a grin then turned around, waving at the bed, “and _that_ is the bed,” she smirked.

“Oh, I think this is my _favorite_ part of the tour,” he teased, sliding his arms around her from behind. 

“Somehow, I thought it would be,” she grinned, leaning back against him.

He grinned, too, pressing a kiss to her cheek as his gaze traveled over to the little stand that her alarm clock was on, alongside a framed picture. He paused, staring at the image for a moment at the sight of the familiar brunette in the photo, holding a little blonde girl in her arms. “Chloe?” 

“Hm?” She asked, pressing her lips to his jaw.

His stomach was tight. “The photo,” he murmured. “Who is that?” 

Chloe blinked and raised her head, looking at him then following his gaze, “oh,” she glanced at the picture then looked down, “that’s my mom.”

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. He reluctantly let go of her, moving over and picking up the picture frame, staring at the photo.

“Oliver?” She frowned, confused as she stepped forward, “what is it?”

He couldn’t look at her. “How uh--how long has it been since you last saw her?” 

“I went to see her about a year ago.” She told him, “why are you asking me this?”

Oliver’s chest was tight and he held onto the frame as he turned to face her, the expression on his face grim. “Because I just saw her last week,” he whispered. “She’s one of the people we pulled out of 33.1.” 

She stilled, her eyes widening, “what? That’s impossible, Oliver.”

“Chloe. I pulled her out myself,” he whispered.

“She’s been catatonic for years,” she told him, “she is in a mental facility in Grandville.”

He pursed his lips, setting the frame down on the table once more. “Call them.” 

“They are probably not open tonight anymore,” she shook her head, “what is happening?”

“I already told you,” he said softly.

Her face fell and she shook her head a little, “why would Lex be interested in her?”

Oliver held his breath at that. “I...don’t know,” he said hesitantly.

“Is she okay?” She asked, taking a step forward.

He swallowed hard. “She’s been unconscious since we found her,” he said gently, reaching out and resting his hands on her shoulders. 

“Unconscious?” She frowned, shaking her head, her heart beating faster, “not catatonic like she was?”

His chest tightened at the expression on her face. “Unconscious,” he echoed, lifting one hand to her cheek. “Why don’t I call my pilot?” 

“Is she in Star City?” She asked, pursing her lips together. 

“Yeah,” he said, nodding a little. “I have a doctor for the team, and he’s overseeing her care. Along with all the other people from 33.1.” 

“How soon can we get there?” She asked, holding her breath.

“As soon as the jet is refueled,” he said quietly, kissing her forehead, and then letting his hands drop from her shoulders. He pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket and dialed his pilot. 

Chloe ran a hand through her hair and sighed softly, nodding then reaching for her laptop bag and pulling the computer out. 

His eyes were sad as he watched her and spoke with his pilot at the same time, then hung up. “He’ll be ready by eleven,” he told her quietly.

She nodded a little as she sat down by her desk, “where did you find her?”

“A facility in Grandville.” 

“Oh,” she held her breath, “that’s where the mental hospital was.”

Oliver rested a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you pack a bag?” he suggested quietly. 

She paused and nodded a little, looking up at him, “then we can stop by the hotel and get your things and go.”

He nodded, too, leaning down and kissing her temple. “For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry.” 

Chloe held her breath and shook her head a little, “you didn’t do anything, Oliver. He did.”

“And we’re going to make him pay for that,” he said, his voice firm.

She stood up and nodded slightly, “and for the others.”

Oliver met her eyes and nodded once more.


	9. Chapter 9

  
  


“Mr. Queen, we’ll be landing in twenty minutes,” the pilot announced over the intercom. 

Oliver glanced up, and then over at Chloe, who was still typing on her laptop. She’d barely looked up the entire flight. Rubbing a hand over his face, he pursed his lips and sighed inaudibly. “We need to fasten our seatbelts,” he told her.

Chloe blinked when he spoke, turning to look at him then nodded a little, closing her laptop and sighing, “thanks for letting me use your internet.” She said, reaching for her seatbelt.

“It’s no problem,” he said softly, gazing at her with worried eyes. 

She looked over at him and took a deep breath, shaking her head, “I couldn’t find anything on her.”

“Lex has probably made sure no one could,” he murmured.

“Or she did.” she told him, sighing softly and rubbing a hand over her face.

Oliver cocked his head. “Why would she do that?” 

“I don’t know,” she sighed softly, “she left. And even I couldn’t find her for a long time.”

“You don’t think she wanted to be found,” he murmured, trying to make sense of it.

“I’m sure she didn’t,” she shrugged a little, “she never contacted us again, she left when I was eight. She knew where to find us.”

His chest tightened at that. He couldn’t imagine growing up with the knowledge that one of his parents had _deliberately_ abandoned him. “Maybe there was a reason,” he said very softly. 

She looked down at her lap and remained quiet for a moment, “she admitted herself, to the mental hospital. Shortly before she went into catatonic state. They never told me exactly what happened to her.”

“Maybe she left because she was afraid,” he whispered, hesitantly reaching out and laying a hand on her arm.

“Afraid of what?” She asked, turning to look at him, her eyes red.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe she knew she was getting sick. Or that something wasn’t right.” 

“Maybe,” she whispered, nodding slightly then pausing, “I guess at least if she leaves again, she can make sure she’s safe.”

He held his breath for a moment, nodding a little and falling silent. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he wasn’t convinced her mom was even going to regain consciousness again. Instead, he slid his arm around her shoulders, and kissed her temple.

She sighed tiredly and leaned into him, closing her eyes. As anxious as she was to see her mother, she was also incredibly apprehensive of the whole thing. She had no doubt it was her mother, she knew Oliver wouldn’t lie to her or make this up unless he was completely sure, but she didn’t even know what to think about this.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he whispered, keeping her close to him.

“You most likely saved my mother’s life,” she whispered back, wrapping her arm around him, “I think you’ve done enough.”

Oliver kissed her forehead, closing his eyes as he shifted, rubbing her back gently. “Well, you’re not alone. Anything you need, I’m here.” 

“Thank you,” she whispered, shifting closer, “you’re amazing.”

He couldn’t help but smile faintly at that, leaning his head against hers. He felt the jet beginning to descend a few moments later and he sighed softly. This was far from the way he’d wanted to show Chloe his city.

* * *

She felt like she was in a daze as his driver drove them straight to the labs, she couldn’t really process the fact that she was about to see her _mom_ again and that she had been stuck in one of Lex’s meta human labs, none of it made sense. 

“Is it far?” She murmured, glancing at him.

“No, just a few more minutes,” he assured her, threading his fingers through his.

“Are the others there?” She asked, holding on to his hand tightly.

“Yeah, everyone we pulled out,” he murmured.

“And the team?” Chloe took a deep breath, turning toward him.

“Well, you’ll definitely be meeting Dr. Hamilton in the next hour or so. I asked him to meet us.” 

“Okay,” she nodded, taking a deep breath, “thank you.”

Oliver kissed her cheek. “No problem.” 

She leaned in and squeezed his hand then nodded a little, taking a deep breath. 

The car pulled to a stop a few minutes later, and Oliver climbed out of the car, reaching in to help her out, as well. 

She took a deep breath then stepped outside of the car looking up at him then looking up at the tall building, her chest tight. 

He rested his hand lightly at the small of her back. “Come on,” he murmured, leading her toward the door. 

She nodded a little and started toward the building, her heart beating faster, “she’s not awake, is she?”

“No,” he said softly.

Chloe nodded again, pursing her lips together, “okay.”

He opened the door of the lobby for her, holding it while she walked inside, and then he followed her silently, directing her toward the elevator and nodding in greeting at a couple of employees. 

She barely saw the people as they passed, walking with him into the elevator and watching as he selected the floor. 

“You all right?” His voice was quiet.

“Yeah,” she breathed, “I just want to see her.”

Nodding, he watched the numbers climb as the elevator ascended to the 22nd floor, and he led her off and into the corridor, then down to the hall to the right, pausing outside one of the rooms. “She’s in here,” he said softly.

Chloe took a deep breath and looked over at him before reluctantly reaching for the door. 

“Do you uh--do you want me to come in with you, or do you want to go in by yourself for now?” 

“You can come in,” she told him, swallowing hard before pushing the door open. 

Oliver held his breath, nodding slightly and then slowly following her into the familiar hospital room. 

She stilled for a moment when her eyes fell on her mother and held her breath. It was definitely her. She moved slowly toward the bed, her eyes tearing up. She looked pale, and thinner than she remembered. 

Oliver’s chest tightened as he watched her silently.

Chloe pursed her lips together and reached to touch her mom’s hair gently. “Is she sick?”

“We’re not sure,” he said, his voice quiet. “But whatever elements make up those green rocks from Smallville...they were present in your mom’s bloodwork.” 

“The meteor rocks?” She gasped, her eyes widening. 

He nodded slightly, holding his breath for a moment. “We think Lex was giving her some kind of injections, but...whether or not she already had it in her system, I don’t know.” 

“So it’s possible that _he_ infected her with it?” She asked, her jaw tightening as she looked up at Oliver. 

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” he said quietly.

“He needs to be stopped,” she said firmly, “is there anything your doctor can do to get it out of her system?”

“He’s trying to come up with a way to do that,” Oliver assured her.

Chloe nodded slightly, turning her attention back to her mom, “how long has she been here?”

“About a month. She’s been stable the whole time she’s been here.” 

“But she hasn’t woken up either,” she sighed. 

“No,” he admitted, watching her for a moment, then moving to stand beside her. “But if it helps at all, she _looks_ a lot better.” 

She held her breath at that, “then I don’t want to know what she looked like when you found her.”

Oliver winced a little, looking down at the woman lying in the bed. 

Sighing deeply, Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and pursed her lips together, brushing her mom’s hair back from her face and watching her closely. 

He reached out, resting his hand on her shoulder gently and giving it a light squeeze. 

“I don’t know what to do.” She told him, shaking her head.

“Maybe you should talk to her,” he suggested softly.

“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, “it’s been so long since we talked,” Chloe said, looking down at her mom’s hand and wrapping her fingers around it. 

Oliver pursed his lips for a moment, then pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “Tell her about yourself,” he whispered.

“She doesn’t know me anymore,” she told him, holding her breath. 

“She’s still your mother,” he whispered, rubbing her back. “And I bet she’d be really happy to hear about what an amazing daughter she has.” 

Her eyes teared up a little and she looked over at him then back down, pursing her lips together. 

“You want me to give you some time?” he asked gently.

She hesitated for a moment then nodded a little, pursing her lips together. 

He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.” 

“Do you think you could find the doctor?” She asked, holding her breath and glancing at him, “I’d like to talk to him.”

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, I will,” he promised. “See you in a few.” 

“Thank you,” she whispered to him, turning back to her mother.

Holding his breath, he nodded, then headed for the door silently, leaving her alone in the room with her mom.

* * * 

Chloe reluctantly left her mother’s side when the doctor had asked her to step into one of the labs so that he could take a sample of her blood and DNA for help, he seemed optimistic about her mother’s health, which was comforting but she knew there was a lot she didn’t know yet, and neither did he. 

He wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t wake up, he said that without her medical files, it would be hard to find out, so she promised him she would do her best to find them for him. 

When she left the lab, she felt drained, emotionally and physically, but she wanted to research, not rest. She wasn’t surprised to see Oliver waiting right outside, however. “Hey.” She greeted quietly.

“Hey,” he said quietly, straightening and pushing himself away from the wall and moving toward her. “How’d it go?” 

“Okay, I think,” she said, shrugging a little, “he’s running comparisons as soon as he gets the results.”

He searched her eyes, nodding and closing the remaining distance between them, hugging her tightly in his arms.

Chloe stilled for a moment then wrapped her arms around him too closing her eyes.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice almost inaudible. 

“Yeah,” she whispered, nodding a little, “I need to let the Kents know I'm not going.”

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, his arms tightening around her a little. “You want me to call?” he offered.

“No,” she said quietly, “they will be worried if I don’t call myself.”

“All right,” he murmured, gently stroking her hair.

Chloe paused for a moment then leaned her head against his chest, closing her eyes again and sighing deeply.

He held her for a long moment, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Why don’t we pick up something to eat and head to my place, and you can call the Kent’s from there?” 

“Okay,” she agreed without pulling away, “I need to research.”

“The meteor rocks?” he asked curiously.

“No,” she told him, “my mother.”

Oliver cocked his head to the side, studying her for a moment. “How?” 

“Her medical history, try to figure out what happened to her,” she whispered, pulling her head back.

He considered that for a moment. “Was she under her real name at the facility in Grandville?” 

“Her maiden name,” Chloe told him, pursing her lips together.

“If you tell me what it is, I’ll send Bart to get her file.” 

Holding her breath, Chloe stared at him, “Moira O’Connor,” she whispered.

Nodding, he pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialing Bart’s number without hesitation.

“Thank you,” Chloe murmured. 

“Hey, you finally back in town?” Bart asked as he picked up.

“I am. And I have a job for you,” he said, raising his eyebrows a little. 

“Shoot, I’m bored.” He grinned.

Oliver smiled a little. “Thanks. I need you to steal a medical file from the Grandville, Kansas, mental health facility. On Moira O’Connor.” 

“See you in a flash,” Bart grinned before hanging up.

“He’s on his way,” he told Chloe, hanging up the phone.

“Thank you,” she said again, “shouldn’t take him long, right?”

“He’ll beat us there,” he assured her. 

“Okay,” she nodded, taking a deep breath, “we should go, then.”

Oliver gazed at her for a second, then nodded, too, leading her toward his car. 

“Thank you, again.” She whispered, “for everything you’re doing.”

“You’re welcome,” he said quietly.

Pursing her lips together, she reached over for his hand and linked her fingers through his as they walked down the hallway. She really couldn’t thank him enough, not only for finding her mom and breaking her out, but for taking care of her like he obviously was.

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, unlocking the car, and opening the door for her.

She glanced up at him then took a deep breath and got into the car, leaning back against the seat tiredly.

He slid into the driver’s seat a moment later, reaching over and fastening her seatbelt across her, kissing her temple and then fastening his own. “It’s not far.” 

“You should get some rest while I look into it,” she said quietly. 

He raised his eyebrows at that, glancing at her sideways and starting the car. “I’m not even tired yet.” 

“You didn’t sleep at all,” she said quietly, watching him. 

“I have a high metabolism,” he assured her.

“You would have to,” she admitted, trying for a smile.

He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, falling silent.

She squeezed his hand back and sighed softly, looking out the window, “what time is it here?”

“Almost six,” he told her, shifting the car into drive and steering the car toward his suite.

“Oh, time difference,” she nodded, frowning a little. 

He glanced at her. “Yeah, a big one,” he admitted.

“You don’t think the others will mind me being here?” She asked, “at your place, I mean.”

“No, they won’t.” He gave her arm a squeeze.

She sighed softly and looked over at him, nodding a little. 

“We’ll figure it all out, Chloe,” he said quietly. 

“I hope so,” she whispered, “it’s just... weird, seeing her like that. Fragile.”

His chest tightened. “Emil says she’s getting stronger every day,” he said softly. 

“Good,” she whispered, nodding slightly, “I don’t think he is optimistic on her waking up, though.”

He was silent for a moment, taking that into consideration. “I’ll bring in specialists if we need to.”

Nodding slightly, she looked back out the window and sighed softly, maybe it wouldn’t do much good if she woke up anyway, maybe she’d just go back to whatever she was doing before the sanatorium, but at least she would be back to normal.


	10. Chapter 10

  


She had zoned out completely on the rest of the drive back, getting to the penthouse, however, she was surprised to see how nice and homey it looked. She had gotten used to seeing Oliver at the hotel, which was pretty amazing, but still looked very... generic. 

The penthouse while kind of minimalistic as far as decorations looked a lot like him. She could definitely see his touch there, along with a lot of stuff that obviously didn’t belong to him, “this is really nice,” she murmured, glancing at the huge wall of windows around the living room then back at him. 

He smiled a bit at that, moving to stand by her side and reaching out to rest his hand on the small of her back. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. He knew she was getting anxious about calling the Kents and starting to research, so he raised his eyebrows a little. “You can call them from my phone if you want. I can call and order some food.” 

“Thank you,” she told him, taking the phone from him and trying for a smile before making her way over to the windows. 

“Took you forever!” Bart said as he came out of the kitchen. 

Oliver smirked a little. “We’re not as fast as you,” he responded.

“We?” Bart frowned, “I didn’t know the guys were here.”

“They’re not,” Oliver told him, stepping aside so Bart could see Chloe, who was already on the phone.

“Oh,” his eyes widened as he stared at her then back at Oliver and grinned, “I’m sure she’s gonna be thrilled to see me.”

“Don’t get any ideas about my _girlfriend_ ,” he warned.

Bart frowned, “your girlfriend? Man, you don’t have _girlfriends_ , and Chloe is too nice for you.” He teased.

Oliver’s eyes narrowed a little, his jaw tightening involuntarily. “Gee, thanks, Bart.” 

“She’s hot,” Bart told him, smiling and shrugging, “so what are the docs for?”

Still annoyed, he reached out and took the documents from the younger man. “They’re about her mom.” 

Her grew serious at that, “Chloe’s mom?”

“She’s one of the ones we pulled out of 33.1,” he told Bart.

“No way,” he gasped, “the older woman?”

He pursed his lips, nodding a little in confirmation and then looking over to where Chloe stood, phone still pressed to her ear.

“Oh,” his face fell a little, “that’s messed up.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” he agreed quietly, his chest tightening.

“But this is good, right?” Bart said quietly, “The Doc said it would help if her family was around.”

“He said hopefully,” Oliver murmured.

“You don’t think it will?” He frowned, glancing at Chloe.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think there’s more going on in her case than whatever Lex was doing to her.” 

“Maybe these will help, right?” Bart said, motioning to the folder, “I can just take them to Emil.”

“No, Chloe wants to see them first. But if you want to go make copies--” He raised his eyebrows as Bart vanished, with the folder. “...that would be great.” 

Chloe blinked and turned around as she felt the wind, murmuring a couple more words into the phone before hanging up, “what was that?”

“That was Bart. He went to make copies of your mom’s files so he could give one to Emil while you looked over the original.” 

“Oh,” she nodded slightly, her eyes a little wide, “okay.”

A second later, Oliver raised his eyebrows at the burst of wind. “Thanks, Bart,” he told the younger man, taking the file and handing it to Chloe. 

“No problem, would have been faster if the machine wasn’t so slow,” he smiled then winked at Chloe. 

“Thank you,” she told both of them, now vaguely remembering Bart, “it’s nice to see you again.”

Oliver glanced between them with a small smile. “You want to work at the table, or the desk?” he offered.

“Either way,” she told him, shrugging slightly.

“More room at the table,” he told her.

“Okay,” she agreed quietly, looking up at him.

“Guess I’ll let you guys work, good to see you too,” Bart grinned, “and don’t worry I won’t tell Clark you know,” he winked at her.

“Thanks, man,” Oliver said quietly, nodding at Bart.

“Thank you,” Chloe said again, smiling slightly at Bart. 

“See you later, call if you need,” Bart grinned before super-speeding away.

“Woah,” she murmured, eyes widening again.

Oliver drew in a breath, nodding a little. “Yeah. I agree.” 

“He’s really fast,” she said, “I think even faster than Clark.”

“That’s one of Clark’s powers?” 

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded a little, “one of the ones I saw, that and incredible strength, I don’t know if there are others.”

He chewed the inside of his cheek, nodding a little. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry about his whole secret identity, just...curiosity, you know?” 

“I trust you,” she told him, shaking her head, “I just-- don’t feel like it’s my secret to tell.”

“I understand, Chloe,” he said softly. “Believe me.” 

“I know you do,” she said quietly then took a deep breath, “I should get started.”

“We,” he corrected her. “I’ll order pizza, unless something else sounds better?” 

“Pizza sounds good,” she told him quietly, managing a soft smile, “I really do appreciate everything you’re doing, Ollie.”

“I know,” he assured her, reaching out and cupping her cheek in his hand. 

She leaned into his touch and lifted her hands to his sides, nodding, “good.”

Oliver leaned in, kissing her softly on the mouth. “Let’s get to work.” 

Chloe kissed him once more before pulling away and nodding, “work.” She agreed quietly before reluctantly letting go of him and making her way to the table.

He watched her go, his chest tightening a little. He wanted to put Lex Luthor in the ground for doing this to her and her mother. 

And the intensity of that feeling was overwhelming.

* * * 

She had no idea how long they had been there for, she was working on her laptop, researching the files Bart had stolen and trying to find more information while Oliver sat next to her, on his own laptop as he helped. 

They had eaten and talked some, but mostly, they were just working in silence, focusing, or at least she was, because when she looked over at him, she noticed his head nodding off slightly toward the computer. 

Chloe couldn’t help but smiled at that, she shifted closer and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Ollie?” She whispered. 

He started, his eyes quickly opening. “What?” 

She smiled and shook her head, “you should go to bed.” 

“I’m awake.” He rubbed his hands over his face. 

“Now you are,” she said as she stood up and took his arm, “come on.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows a little, but rose to his feet when she did. “Where we going?” 

“You’re going to bed,” she told him, arching her eyebrows.

He yawned. “What time is it?” 

“I don’t know, I’m still in DC time, but it must be close to sunrise,” she said quietly, watching him. 

“You need to sleep, too,” he told her.

Chloe sighed softly and nodded, “yeah, even the coffee isn’t doing much anymore but I just wanted to finish up.”

He was a little surprised she hadn’t even bothered arguing about it, and he slipped his arm around her waist as they headed down the hallway toward his bedroom. 

She paused and arched her eyebrows at him, “what?”

“What?” he echoed. 

“Nothing,” she told him, wrapping her arm around him too.

Oliver leaned in and kissed her cheek silently. 

She smiled softly and lifted her head, kissing his jaw. She didn’t know if it was exhaustion but she was feeling calmer than she had after seeing her mom, she was still worried but the little information she had found didn’t seem to be too alarming. Of course she was no doctor and she was still decoding what everything on the documents meant, but so far, it wasn’t anything she didn’t already know from her research the previous year.

“We’ll probably have better luck after we’ve had some sleep,” he told her quietly. 

“Maybe,” she agreed, nodding, “I just want to finish with that document before that.”

He guided her into his room and then tugged off his shirt without thinking about it, folding it and dropping it onto the dresser. 

She pursed her lips together and looked up at him, watching him for a moment, “can you get to bed okay?”

“I don’t know. I think I might need some assistance,” he told her with a small smile. 

Her face softened at that and she shook her head, “you were asleep on your chair, I don’t think you need that kind of assistance.”

“Are you kidding? I always need that kind of assistance from you.” He winked.

Chloe shook her head a little and smiled, “I won’t be much longer.”

“Come to bed,” he whispered, holding his hand out to her.

Chloe pursed her lips together, “I just need to finish the file, Ollie.”

He looked down at the floor, letting his hand drop to his side. “All right.” 

Her chest tightened at the look on his face, “I just don’t want to risk going to sleep when I could find something important and that could make the difference.” She explained. 

“I know, Chloe.” His voice was quiet.

“Are you okay?” She asked, cocking her head as she watched him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he assured her, nodding a little. 

“Okay,” she stepped closer and nodded a little too, tiptoeing and kissing his cheek, “I won’t be much longer.” 

Nodding, he kissed her cheek in return and turned toward the bed.

Chloe sighed softly as she watched him then walked out of the room, closing the door most of the way and making her way back down the hallway, it wasn’t like she was going to be able to sleep anyway.

* * * 

He woke suddenly, uncertain of what had even startled him from his slumber, his eyebrows furrowing a little as he heard soft sounds from the other room. He climbed out of bed and slowly moved toward the hall. “Chloe?” His voice was quiet.

She glanced at him but went back to sliding her boots on without blinking, some of his weapons on the floor next to her as she crouched down to finish with her shoes, a dagger and even a handful of arrows.

He raised his eyebrows, confusion flickering over his face. “What’s going on?” 

“I have to go.” She said blankly, standing up a moment later and picking up the weapons.

“Patrolling?” There was a hint of wariness in his tone. 

Chloe just stared for a moment, “she needs help.” She told him tightly before starting toward the elevator.

“Whoa, easy. Who? Your mom?” He shook his head, following her.

“I must go alone,” she said, not stopping.

“Uh, you’re not really familiar with the city, and it’s not the safest place after dark, Chloe.” 

“I won’t stop until I get there.” She said, pressing the button for the elevator.

“Do you even know _how_ to get there?” he questioned, shaking his head as he moved to stand beside her. Something was really not right about this whole situation.

“I’ll figure it out,” she told him, glancing over at him.

“Just...stop a second,” he said gently, reaching out and laying a hand on her arm.

Her jaw clenched and she glared at him, pulling her arm and then pushing him hard with her other hand, “stay out of my way!”

He was caught off guard by her actions and he stumbled backwards, eyes widening. “Chloe, what the _hell_?” 

She just stared at him then stepped inside the elevator, holding the dagger out toward him, “I have to do this myself.”

“Oh, hell no.” His eyes narrowed and he headed toward the stairs, his jaw tightening.

As soon as the elevator doors opened again, she took off running, making her way out of the building and turning right without stopping.

He caught up with her in the middle of the sidewalk less than a block away. “ _Stop_ ,” he said firmly, stepping in front of her. 

Chloe stilled, staring up at him. “I think I was clear.”

“You’re not yourself.”

“I know what I need to do.” She told him.

“Then let me help you.” He stared at her intently.

“ _No_.” She said firmly, taking a step toward him, “I must go _alone_.”

“Sorry, Chloe,” he said quietly. “That’s not gonna happen.” 

“I didn’t want to do this,” She said, pulling out the dagger from her side. 

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I know you don’t want to hurt me.” 

“I’ll do whatever I have to,” she warned, stepping closer.

When she moved, he did the same, catching hold of her arm easily and disarming her without much struggle, spinning her so that her back was against his front as he held onto her tightly. 

Chloe gasped, shifting and pressing back against him, elbowing his stomach, “let go of me!”

Oliver grunted, but tightened his grip on her a little to keep her from repeating the action. “Something’s not right here, Chloe and I know deep down you know that, too. I’m _not_ going to hurt you.” 

“You can’t stop me,” she groaned, kicking back.

“Stop it,” he ordered, picking her up. 

But she didn’t, she pushed back against him, still struggling and trying to free herself, “she needs me!”

“I’ll take you to her,” he said firmly. “Right now.” 

She turned her head slowly, staring up at him.

“I just want to help. I’ll take you to your mother,” he said, holding her gaze.

“She needs help _now_ ” she stressed, struggling to free herself.

“All right. Then let’s go. We’ll get there faster by car,” he pointed out, walking back toward the building where his car was parked.

She watched him then followed him in a fast pace, “I’ll need the knife.”

“No, you won’t. I’m not going to let anyone harm you _or_ your mother.” 

“She needs my help getting out!” Chloe pressed, her jaw tight.

Oliver paused at that, then turned once more to face her. “Getting out?” 

Chloe glared at him, “that’s why she told me to go alone, you’re not going to help. No one will.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Getting out of 33.1,” he said as realization dawned on him.

“He’s hurting her and you are wasting my time!” She said, irritated. “Give me your keys.”

“No, I’ll drive,” he said. “Let’s go.” He headed toward the car, unlocking it once more and sliding in behind the wheel.

Her jaw clenched but she got in on the passenger side, glancing at him, “hurry up!” She ordered.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye as he started the vehicle and pulled out of the parking space, speeding toward the private medical facility where Emil was treating the victims of 33.1.

She didn’t say a word the rest of the way, when he parked she got out of the car and ran toward the building without hesitating.

He followed quickly, his heart beating hard in his chest as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, glad he’d thought to grab it as he’d rushed out the door after her. He dialed Bart’s number, sending him a quick text message to get there ASAP.

Chloe made her way down the hallway, looking around and spotting the elevator, making her way there a moment later.

He was only a few steps behind her, getting onto the elevator just in time. “She’s on the top floor,” he told her, pressing the button.

She turned to look at him, “where is _he_?”

“He’s not here,” he told her, shaking his head. 

“She said he would be,” Chloe told him, eyes narrowing.

“If he is, I’ll let you have the knife back,” Oliver said firmly.

She stared for a moment longer then looked up at the numbers.

When the elevator stopped, he looked over at her. “She’s down the hall to the right. Fourth door.” 

She didn’t wait for him, made her way right down the hallway and into the fourth door, then stilled.

He followed her, holding his breath as he stopped right behind her, not as surprised as he probably should have been to see her mother sitting up in bed, wide-awake.

Chloe’s face went from shocked, to blank and then she blinked a couple of times, looking around confused for a second then at Moira, “mom?” She whispered, her eyes widening.

“We have to get out of here,” Moira told her, rising to her feet. 

“How did I get here?” Chloe asked, confused as she glanced at Oliver then shook her head and made her way to her mom, “how did you wake up?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shooting Oliver a suspicious look and cupping Chloe’s face in her hands. “But we need to get out.” 

“No, mom,” Chloe whispered, lifting her hands to her mom’s arms, “you’re safe here.”

“No one is safe here,” Moira argued.

“Do you know where you are?” Chloe asked quietly.

“Wherever Lex Luthor is keeping us. We have to get _out_.” 

“You already have,” she told her, glancing at Oliver again, “he saved you.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she look past her daughter to the tall blond man standing in the doorway. “Who is he?” There was uncertainty in her voice and her eyes.

“Oliver Queen,” she told her mom, taking a deep breath, “he is working against Lex.”

“No one works against Lex and survives,” Moira said, shaking her head. 

“They do if they are just as powerful as Lex,” Chloe explained, “which he is.”

Oliver pursed his lips. It wasn’t difficult to figure out that somehow Moira had summoned Chloe to her side, and he wondered if that was why Lex had wanted her in 33.1 to begin with. He imagined a power like that would be pretty useful for a guy like Lex. “Hi,” he said gently, slowly stepping into the room. 

“And he is helping take Lex down and stop what he is doing,” Chloe went on, stepping to her mom’s side so she could look at Oliver too.

“I’m doing what needs to be done,” he admitted quietly, studying Moira and being careful to keep his distance for the time being. 

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked, holding her breath as she turned to look at Moira again.

“I think so.” She was still eyeing Oliver. After a long moment, she turned her attention back to Chloe. “Are _you_ all right?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, nodding, “I think so, I’m just not sure how I got here.”

Guilt settled on the older woman’s expression. “I called you here,” she admitted quietly.

“You did?” Chloe asked, confused.

For a long moment, Moira was silent and then she let out a breath, glancing at Oliver for a moment and then moving to sit on the edge of her bed. “I have an ability to...control you,” she murmured.

“Control me?” Chloe asked, her own stomach tightening, “mom, what are you saying?”

Moira didn’t look at her. “I mean, I willed you to come here. To break me out. That’s why you’re here.” 

“How?” She shook her head, “the last thing I remember is going to bed,” she glanced sideways at Oliver then back at her mom, “and then I was standing here.”

Oliver chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, then reluctantly spoke up. “I drove you.” 

Chloe looked at him for a moment, confused, then back to her mom, “how did you control me?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s an ability I’ve had since you were little.” 

“Is it like telepathy?” She asked, her stomach tight.

“Something like that, I suppose.” 

Oliver hesitated a moment, looking between them. “Do you want me to give you some privacy?” 

Chloe looked back at him, “maybe you should let the doctor know she’s awake.”

“All right,” he said quietly, nodding and turning to head away.

“Thank you,” she called as he headed away, her chest tight.

Moira watched him go, then turned her attention back to Chloe.

With a deep breath, she turned to her mom again, “it’s good to see you awake,” she said quietly, her eyes tearing up.

“Oh, honey,” she whispered, opening her arms as she rose to her feet once more.

Chloe’s face fell and she wrapped her arms around her, closing her eyes tightly.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she murmured, holding her close.

Shaking her head a little, Chloe took a deep breath, “then why did you stay away?” She whispered.

“Because I was afraid I was going to hurt you again,” Moira admitted.

“You never hurt me,” she said, pulling back and frowning in confusion.

Moira touched her cheek. “You don’t remember.” It wasn’t a question. 

“What happened?” She asked, searching her eyes.

She took a deep breath and began to explain how, when Chloe was very young, she’d gotten dirty and Moira had been very frustrated and told her to go scrub her hands clean. Chloe had done so, to the point that her hands actually _bled_. 

“That was when I knew I couldn’t stay around. I was afraid of what I might force you to do.” 

“But how did you do that?” Chloe asked quietly, “you have a power.”

“Yes,” Moira admitted. “But I don’t know how or why. I wasn’t born with it.” 

“I might,” Chloe said, holding her breath.

“What do you mean?” 

“When I was little,” she said, “I remember you telling me we were in Grandville the day of the meteor shower,” she took a deep breath, “we had gone visit grandpa and on the way back, a meteor hit the road and missed us by inches.”

Moira cocked her head to the side, studying her daughter for a long moment. “Yes, that’s true,” she said uncertainly.

“The meteor rocks they can, sometimes, give people abilities,” she sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

She raised her eyebrows a little, but didn’t reject the idea. “How do you know about all of this?” 

“Dad and I were living in Smallville,” she said, unsure if the woman knew about that that or not, “I’ve seen it happen.”

“He moved the two of you to Smallville?” Her eyes widened.

“He got a promotion,” she said, frowning a little at her reaction.

Moira rubbed a hand over her face. “I see,” she murmured.

“Why did you get that look on your face?” She asked curiously.

“What look?” 

“About Smallville,” she told her, “other than the obvious, what is wrong with it?”

“I suppose I was just surprised, considering how much your father loved Metropolis.” Moira pursed her lips.

“Yeah,” she sighed softly, “he didn’t want to either, but I guess he needed the money,” she said quietly, looking down.

“How have you been?” Moira reached out and tucked some hair behind Chloe’s ear.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly, “it’s been okay,” she said quietly, “I just found out you were here yesterday.”

“And that man from before--he really rescued me from Lex?” 

“Yeah,” she told her, smiling slightly, “he has some friends who also have abilities, and they work together to break into Lex’s labs and pull people out, then destroy the facilities.”

“I see,” Moira murmured, considering that for a long moment.

“He’s one of the good guys,” Chloe said quietly.

“Good. At least there are still some left.” 

“Yeah,” she whispered, “and his doctor friend has been taking really good care of you for what I can tell.”

“Sleeping beauty awakens.” Emil smiled as he stepped into the room. “How are you feeling, Ms. Sullivan?” 

“And that would be him, Dr. Hamilton,” Chloe introduced, standing up. 

Moira looked from her daughter to the doctor and nodded, “ready to get out of here.”

He raised his eyebrows a little at that. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he cautioned. 

“We’ll get you out,” Chloe assure her, “as long as the doctor thinks it’s okay to.”

“We’re not interested in keeping you here against your will,” Emil assured her, moving closer. “Just in making you well.” 

Moira nodded a little, “I feel well,” she told him.

“I’d like to run a few simple tests, bloodwork, that kind of thing, if you’re all right with it.” He glanced at Chloe and raised his eyebrows a little.

Chloe nodded and looked over at her mom, holding her breath. 

Moira considered her daughter for a moment, seeing the worry on her face she nodded, “go ahead.”

“It shouldn’t take too long for your part,” Emil assured her. “And I have to say, it’s very good to see you awake. We were all worried about you.”

Moira nodded a little, looking at the Doctor, “it was better for her.” She said, glancing at Chloe.

“Mom,” Chloe frowned, shaking her head, “don’t say that, we’ll figure it out.”

“Your daughter’s right, Ms. Sullivan,” he said quietly. 

Chloe reached for her mom’s hand and nodded, “I can bring her by for the exams.”

He nodded. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.” 

“Thank you,” she told him. 

“I don’t suppose I have a change of clothes here,” Moira said, smiling a little at Chloe.

Emil smiled faintly at that, and headed for the door, leaving them alone once more.

“Sorry,” Chloe said sincerely, “I can go get you something as soon as you’re done.”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” She rose to her feet. “Let’s get this part over with.” 

“Are you sure are you feeling okay to stand? You were out for.. a very long time.” Chloe said quietly.

“I feel fine,” Moira assured her.

“Okay,” she nodded and stood up straight, “come on.” 

Nodding, Moira followed her daughter toward the door, glancing around with a hint of uncertainty. 

“You’re safe,” she whispered to her, “trust me.” Safer than she had been in a very long time, anyway.

Nodding, she reached out and took Chloe’s hand in hers.

Chloe squeezed her hand and smiled a little, taking a deep breath and nodding, hopefully she would be healthy and she would be okay. And hopefully she wouldn’t disappear again.


	11. Chapter 11

  


It was very reluctantly that Chloe agreed to leave her mom’s side that night, she was exhausted and while it had been good to spend time with her and talk, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to disappear again. 

She hadn’t noticed anything hinting that she was trying to, and it was probably just her fearing she would have to go through what her eight year old self did again, but it wasn’t like it was unfounded. 

Regardless, she did her best to shake it off, to tell herself that Oliver’s staff and security wouldn’t let her go anywhere for the time being, she just hoped she was there in the morning. 

“Thank you for getting her that phone,” Chloe told Oliver as they made their way back to his penthouse, “I just wanted her to be able to contact me if she wanted to.” 

“You’re welcome. It wasn’t a problem,” he assured her, reaching out and taking her hand. He glanced at her sideways. “How are you doing?” 

“Much better,” she nodded, squeezing his hand, “at least she seems healthy.”

Oliver nodded, too, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing her knuckles lightly. “Emil’s the best there is.” 

“I believe you,” she said quietly, “but there is something I haven’t had a chance to ask you.”

He had a feeling he knew what was wanting to ask. “All right, I’ll bite.”

“What happened this morning?” She asked, holding her breath as she turned on her seat to watch him.

Oliver glanced at her, then back at the road. “You were heading out the door when I woke up. You said your mom needed you.”

Chloe chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, “did I say anything bad?”

A smile tugged at his mouth, but he did his best to suppress it. “No, it was fine.”

She couldn’t quite understand his expression, which made her nervous, “did I do anything?”

“Chloe. Don’t worry,” he said gently. “Everything turned out fine.”

“I’ve been... possessed, mind-wiped, whatever you want to call it, before. I know the results can be pretty ugly.” She told him.

“Ever pulled a dagger on someone?” he asked lightly.

“I did that?” She gasped, sitting up, “did I hurt you?”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “Not at all. Like I said, everything was fine. I disarmed you and promised to drive you to your mom.”

“And I just agreed?” She asked, suspicious.

“Well, I did have to pick you up and carry you for a little ways. And you did demand the keys.” He smiled a bit, raising his eyebrows. “But no harm done.”

“How can you be taking this so well?” She asked, shaking her head.

“Because I knew you weren’t yourself.” He shrugged a little.

“Have you seen this kind of thing happen before?” Chloe frowned.

“No, but I assumed you weren’t pulling a knife on me because I was hogging the covers.” 

She sighed softly at that and shook her head, “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt you.”

“Don’t worry,” he said softly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, leaning close and kissing his cheek softly.

“You’re welcome.” He glanced at her with a soft smile.

“You’re really amazing.” She whispered, brushing her thumb over the back of his hand.

Oliver couldn’t help but smile at that. “And you are far too kind.”

“No, Ollie, that’s you too.” She said as he pulled into the garage for his building.

He shook his head a little, but didn’t try to argue with her. “You hungry?”

“Kinda, not very hungry,” she admitted. “You?”

Oliver parked the car. “Yeah, not really either. Maybe just some toast or something before bed.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed, “I really want a shower,” she admitted.

“All right. No problem. Why don’t you do that, and I’ll fix us something quick for dinner,” he suggested.

“Okay, but don’t go through a lot of trouble.” She told him, reaching for the door to get out of the car.

He smiled a bit and climbed out of the car as well, meeting her in front of the vehicle and holding his hand out wordlessly.

She took his hand and smiled softly at him, sliding her fingers through his as they started toward the elevator.

“So it’s been a long day, huh?” His voice was quiet as he led her onto the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

“No kidding,” she said, stepping closer to him, “and I feel bad for leaving her there but... I know she’s in good hands.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “And if anything comes up, we can be back in a few minutes.” 

“I know,” she took a deep breath, nodding, “and she probably doesn’t need me checking on her every thirty seconds anyway.”

Oliver smiled at that, winding his arms around her as the elevator ascended toward the top floor.

She wrapped her arms around him too and shrugged a little, “thanks for staying there with me, you really didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” he admitted, resting his chin atop her head.

“And I really appreciate that but I’m sure there are things you need to take care of too,” she said quietly, brushing her fingers over his back.

“Nothing that couldn’t wait,” he assured her.

“Okay, but if there is anything, and I do mean anything, that I can help you with, will you let me know?”

He smiled a bit, kissing her temple. “Promise.” 

“And I’m sorry everything got in the way of our trip,” she whispered.

“It’s okay, Chloe,” he said sincerely, pulling away to look at her and lifting his hand to her cheek.

She leaned into his touch then paused and cocked her head, “wait, isn’t it Christmas Eve?” She asked, she had completely lost track of time.

Oliver paused, blinking a couple of times. “Wow. Yeah, you’re right. It is.” 

She shook her head a little, “I completely forgot about Christmas,” she murmured.

“Me too,” he admitted. Of course, he didn’t usually celebrate it anyway.

Her face fell and she sighed, “and I’m pretty sure I didn’t pack your gifts.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “I’m pretty sure I have an idea of how you can make it up to me,” he teased. 

“Well what if that was a part of one of your gifts?” She asked, smiling and arching her eyebrows.

He grinned brightly. “Then I’m a lucky guy.” 

“And easier than I thought to shop for,” she teased, smirking.

“You never have to shop. You already have everything I want.” He smiled.

Chloe grinned and pulled away when they reached the floor, “you’re such a flirt.”

“Just being honest.” 

“Still a flirt, but it’s nice you think that way,” she said, reaching for his hand and pulling him out of the elevator.

He followed her without hesitation. “Glad to hear it.” 

She paused and arched her eyebrows a little, “you said you weren’t very hungry either, right?” She asked, her heart beating faster.

He cocked his head to the side. “Right...” 

“And you have to shower too, right?” She asked, pursing her lips together.

A smile quirked his lips. “I like where this is going.” 

Chloe relaxed a little and shrugged, “well I know you’re all green, in more ways than one, so I figured you’d appreciate saving water.”

He smirked. “Well, there are some things I’m _not_ green in.” Without warning, he leaned down and scooped her up in his arms.

She gasped and held onto him, laughing softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, “well I know _that_.”

He laughed when she did, his eyes brightening even more. 

Chloe smiled brightly when she saw the look on his face then lifted her head, brushing her nose against his.

He smiled against her mouth as he kissed her softly, then carried her toward the bathroom. 

She kissed him back, sliding her fingers through his hair as she smiled against his lips too.

“Merry Christmas,” he murmured, shutting the door behind them a moment later.

Her face softened and she cupped his cheek in her hand then nodded a little, “definitely a Merry Christmas.”

* * * 

Over an hour later, they lay together in his bed, bodies pressed closely together as he stroked his fingers through her still-damp hair, gazing at her intently. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured.

Chloe smiled and pressed her lips to his jaw, then pulled back to look at him, “and you’re amazing.”

“I think we’re pretty amazing together,” he told her, tracing his fingers lightly up and down her bare arm.

Her face softened at that and she nodded a little, “I can’t argue with that,” she smiled, “and I’m extremely glad Mrs. Kent couldn’t make that meeting with you.”

“Me too,” Oliver agreed.

“And really glad Green Arrow decided to stalk me,” she teased.

He smirked, moving his hand down to rest against her hip. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her. “Green Arrow does enjoy stalking you.” 

“I haven’t seen him in a while,” she smirked back, shifting closer, definitely not minding having his hands all over her.

His eyes narrowed a little at that, and he lifted his head from the pillow. “Well, you know all you have to do is let him know you want a visit.” 

“Making an appointment isn’t nearly as fun,” she pointed out, lifting a hand to touch his cheek, “besides, we’re in his city now, he should be around.”

“Hm, you make a good point,” he agreed, brushing his nose against hers.

“So maybe after Christmas,” she grinned softly holding his gaze, “he will feel like coming by.”

Oliver grinned back at her, nodding and sliding his hand up to her shoulder as he leaned in to kiss her once more.

She kissed him back, lifting her head a little for a better angle as she wrapped her arm around his back again.

“Hmm, ready for round three?” he teased.

Chloe blinked and arched her eyebrows, “you weren’t kidding about your metabolism were you?” She smirked, “I am when you are.”

He grinned again, rolling her under him. Definitely the best Christmas ever.

* * * 

“Thanks for coming,” Emil greeted them as they sat down in front of his desk the next day. He raised his eyebrows a little and sat back in his chair. “I ran the results of your blood tests against those of your mother’s,” he told Chloe, looking slightly uncomfortable. 

Chloe didn’t like the look on the doctor’s face at all, he had called them the next morning and had asked him to come in, “what did you find?”

He hesitated a moment. “You have the same genetic mutation as she does,” he told her.

She held her breath at that, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, in the back of her head, she knew it was a possibility since she had been there with her mom the day of the meteor shower, “what does that mean?” She asked.

He paused. “Do you have any powers?”

“No,” she swallowed hard, shaking her head and avoiding looking at Oliver, “not that I know of.”

Oliver reached out and took her hand in his wordlessly, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“Well, you may never develop one,” Emil assured her. 

“Can you be sure?” She asked, “if my mother has it...”

“No,” he admitted. “But we can’t be sure you will, either.” 

“And if I do get something,” she sat up, “would you be able to get rid of it?”

Emil pursed his lips. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. “As you know I’m still new to working with people who are meteor-infected.”

“I can give you all my research,” she said, sliding to the edge of her seat, “maybe you will find a way.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he promised, nodding. “But honestly, you may have nothing to worry about.” 

“Like you said,” she said quietly, her stomach in knots, “you don’t know much about meteor freaks yet.”

Oliver glanced at her sideways, holding his breath for a moment. 

Emil nodded again. “As far as your mother goes, she seems to be just fine. My theory is she’ll continue to be fine as long as she keeps taking the injections we replicated based off samples of what Bart took from Lex’s experiments.” 

“Is that what is keeping her awake?” Chloe asked, holding her breath.

“If I had to place a bet?” He nodded once more.

“Okay,” she swallowed hard, “how many times a day does she need it?”

“Just once a day,” he told her, pursing his lips. “And she’s healthy enough she can go home. Or wherever.” 

“Oh,” she breathed, nodding a little, “I will see what she wants to do,” her chest tightened as she looked down.

Oliver squeezed her hand once more. “She’s more than welcome to come back to my place with us,” he whispered.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He glanced at Emil. “Is there anything else?” 

“No, I think that covers it. I’ll start getting Mrs. Sullivan’s release papers ready.” He rose to his feet. “Feel free to use my office as long as you need.” 

“Thank you,” she said quietly, rubbing her free hand over her face.

Nodding, Emil headed out the door, leaving the two of them alone.

“You okay?” Oliver asked softly.

Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath then stood up, “yeah, I should go tell her she’s free to go.”

“Wait.” He rose to his feet, as well, shaking his head. “We should talk.” 

“I appreciate the offer about letting her stay for now,” she told him, holding her breath and doing her best to keep her expression unreadable, “but I don’t even know if she will stick around or not.”

“Chloe, look at me.” His voice was quiet, but firm as he moved closer to her.

She let out her breath and looked up at him but remained quiet.

He lifted his hand to her cheek, his thumb moving lightly over her skin. “You’re not alone here,” he whispered.

Her face crumbled slightly but she nodded, straightening, “thank you,” she whispered, looking up at him, “I know.”

He shifted closer and wound his arms around her. 

Chloe wrapped her arms around him and lowered her head, resting her forehead against his chest and sighing deeply. 

“I know you’re scared, but I’m here,” he murmured. “And I’m not going anywhere.” 

She let out a deep breath and nodded a little, “thank you.” She whispered, before pulling back. 

He held her gaze, then leaned in, kissing her softly on the mouth. 

She lifted her hands to his arms and kissed him back for a moment then nodded a little, “I should go talk to her.”

“All right,” he agreed, nodding and then leaning in and kissing her once more before reluctantly letting go of her.

“Are you staying here?” She asked quietly, keeping her hands on his arms. 

“Yeah, unless you needed some space.” 

“No,” she said quietly but quickly, “just to talk to her.” 

He smiled faintly, nodding. “All right. Do you want anything from the cafeteria? I could get you some coffee or breakfast or something.” 

“Coffee would be good,” she nodded, considering they had still been in bed when Emil called and hadn’t had time to eat before leaving. 

“All right. You talk to your mom and I’ll go grab some coffee,” he agreed, winking at her and heading for the door.

“Thank you,” she whispered, watching him go then taking a deep breath and following him out the door but starting down the opposite side of the hallway where her mom’s room was. 

Moira was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring out the window when she heard footsteps and quickly glanced over her shoulder, relaxing when she saw it was Chloe. “Good morning.” 

“Good morning,” she smiled a little, taking a deep breath, “how are you feeling?”

“I feel fine,” she admitted. 

“That’s good,” she stepped closer, “because Emil said you should be able to leave.”

Moira rose to her feet. “Wonderful. I’ll get dressed.” She moved toward the small closet. 

“Mom, wait,” she said quietly, holding her breath, “there’s something I need to talk to you about first.”

“Okay.” She paused, turning around once more, eyebrows furrowed. 

“The injection Dr. Hamilton gave you, the substance Lex was injecting you with,” she held her breath, “that’s what is what is keeping you awake, so you will need to keep taking it, once a day.”

Moira studied her daughter for a long moment, then turned and headed to the closet, changing clothes quickly without responding.

Chloe’s chest clenched as she watched her, eyes tearing up slightly, “you’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

Moira paused and turned to look at her daughter. “Chloe. I’m not safe,” she said quietly. 

“Neither am I,” she whispered, shaking her head, “I’m infected too.”

She stared, open-mouthed for a long moment. “ _What?_ ” 

“I don’t think I have any powers,” her stomach turned, “not yet, but Dr. Hamilton said that the same mutation you have in your DNA, I have it too.”

Moira blinked a few times and then slowly moved to sit down once again. 

“It doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” she whispered, even if she didn’t believe in it, she couldn’t let her leave without trying.

“You don’t think so?” 

“Some of the guys who are helping Ollie,” she said quietly, “they have powers too and they are able to do a lot of good with it.”

“Can they control their children with telepathy?” Moira asked just as quietly.

“We will work on that too,” she whispered, her eyes big. 

“Doesn’t it scare you?” she asked, shaking her head. 

“You don’t scare me,” she said quietly, “you never have.”

Moira looked down at her hands, letting out a breath and falling silent for a moment. “What if Lex comes after me to get to you?” 

“Then we have Ollie and the others to make sure he doesn’t get to us.” She said firmly. 

She considered that for a moment, studying her daughter. “How long have the two of you been involved?” 

She stilled at that and arched her eyebrows, holding her breath, “what do you mean?”

Moira shrugged. “You and Oliver.” 

Chloe let out a breath at that, “we’ve known each other for a couple of months but... not long.”

“Hmm.” She nodded a little, raising her eyebrows. 

“What?” Chloe asked, suddenly nervous for a different reason.

“It just seems fairly serious.” 

She paused at that and pursed her lips together, “he offered you a room at the penthouse, if you decide to stay.”

“He has a penthouse?” 

“Right,” Chloe shook her head, “I guess, I didn’t mention that,” she nodded slightly, “he owns Queen Industries, remember when I said he was as powerful as Lex Luthor?”

Moira nodded slightly, studying her again.

“Both his parents passed away when he was little,” she said quietly, “he inherited their empire.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Sounds like quite a responsibility.” 

“Yeah,” Chloe nodded a little, holding her breath, “do you think you can stay?”

She was silent for a moment. “We’ll give it a try.” 

She breathed at that, her face softening and she nodded slightly, “okay.”

Moira rose to her feet once more, moving to Chloe’s side and hugging her tightly.

Chloe stilled for a moment then wrapped her arms around her mom just as tightly, closing her eyes and hugging her close.

Oliver held his breath as he stood in the open doorway, watching them for a moment with a soft smile as they embraced. Then he headed back to Emil’s office, giving them more time.


	12. Chapter 12

  


The ride back to his penthouse was quiet. And it was more of an awkward silence than a comfortable one, and he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that his every move was being both observed and analyzed. Glancing at Chloe in the rearview mirror, he parked the car in front of the building and turned off the engine. “Well, here we are.” 

Chloe smiled softly at him before getting out of the car and opening the front door for her mom, “come on, you’re probably tired.”

Moira nodded a little and climbed out of the car, looking up at the tall building. 

Placing a hand over her back, Chloe looked up too, “top floor,” she said quietly, glancing over at her mom, “I think you will like the view.”

She smiled a little at that, nodding and linking her arm with her daughter’s as they all headed up toward the door. 

Oliver followed behind them, a soft smile on his face. 

“How are you feeling?” She whispered over to her mom, leading her toward the building. 

“I feel fine,” Moira assured her with a smile.

“Remember what the doctor said, if you start feeling too tired, you need to let me know.” Chloe reminded her.

“And I will.” She nodded a little, glancing over her shoulder at Oliver and then back at Chloe once more. 

“And I guess you should enjoy the heat while you can,” Chloe said, her stomach tight when she thought about leaving and glanced over at Oliver then back at her mom. 

Moira glanced at her questioningly. “Is it not usually warm here?” 

“I don’t live here,” she admitted, “I live in DC.”

“Oh.” She smiled softly, nodding.

“You’ve been there, right?” Chloe asked quietly, feeling bad that she didn’t know the answer to that. 

“No, actually,” Moira said, shaking her head. 

“I think you will like it,” she said as they stepped into the elevator, “it’s a lot like Metropolis.”

“Well, I look forward to seeing it.” She smiled softly.

Chloe grinned a little at that and nodded, squeezing her mom’s hand as she glanced over at Oliver. 

Oliver smiled back at her, his eyes filled with warmth. “Why don’t I make some tea? Or coffee. Whichever. Or both. I know Chloe prefers coffee.” He winked at her.

“I will take tea, thank you.” Moira nodded at him. 

“Thanks,” Chloe added, smiling at the look on his face.

“Absolutely,” he said, nodding at them and heading for the kitchen.

“Do you want to lay down or look around?” Chloe asked, watching her mom. 

Moira glanced around the suite, and moved over to the windows, her eyes widening slightly. “This is quite a view.” 

Chloe nodded, following her, “you can see the ocean over on that side,” she said, pointing. 

“This is very nice,” Moira murmured, nodding.

“Yeah, I agree,” Chloe nodded, “thank you for being okay with staying with him.”

“Well, I would like to get to know him better,” she admitted, raising her eyebrows a little.

Her face got warm at that but Chloe nodded a little, “I appreciate that too.”

Moira smiled softly and kissed her cheek. 

Chloe linked her arm with her mom’s and smiled took taking a deep breath and relaxing a little. “I missed you,” she said quietly. 

“I missed you, too,” she whispered.

* * * 

“I’ll go take a quick shower,” Chloe said quietly, looking up between the two of them once they were done having dinner. She really wanted to sneak away to talk to Lois and make sure things were okay in Smallville, but she didn’t want her mom to overhear any of it, especially because she still hadn’t told her dad and she wanted to see if Lois had any tips.

“We’ll be fine,” Oliver assured her with a soft smile. 

“I know,” she smiled at him then stood up, pressing a kiss to her mom’s temple, “call me if you need anything,” she said, unable to stop herself. 

“We’ll be okay, Chloe,” she assured her. 

“I won’t be long,” she told them before starting down the hallway.

Moira adjusted on her chair and nodded a little, “thank you for dinner.”

“You’re welcome,” he told her, nodding, as well. 

“Chloe mentioned you do a lot of good,” she said, sipping on her water.

“Well, I try,” he said quietly, pursing his lips. 

“I don’t think I have thanked you for helping me yet.” She said sincerely.

“That’s my honor,” he said just as sincerely. “No one deserves to have done to them what Lex was doing to all of you.” 

“No,” Moira agreed, nodding, “and I know Chloe is helping you and if there is any way I can help too...” She offered.

“I appreciate that very much.” Oliver smiled faintly. 

She watched him for a moment then nodded once again, “you seem to really care about her.”

He held his breath for a moment. “I do.” 

“Then I need to ask you one more thing.” She said, growing serious.

Oliver pursed his lips, nodding a little. “All right, shoot.” 

“If I do anything, Oliver,” she said, lowering her voice, “anything that hurts her, the second she starts to act like she’s not in charge,” she told him, “I want you to take her away from me, and I want to stop the injections.”

He held her gaze for a long moment, then nodded ever so slightly. “Deal,” he said quietly. 

“Thank you,” she breathed, “I don’t want to break her heart again, but I can’t risk hurting her either.” 

“I understand,” he said softly. “I can’t imagine having to be in that position.” 

Moira offered him a small smile, “let’s hope you never have to find out.”

“Agreed.” He nodded, holding her gaze. “Mrs. Sullivan, to be honest I’ve only known your daughter a few short months, but...” He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. “Truthfully I’m in love with her.” 

She watched him for a moment then smiled, nodding, “it doesn’t take time to know what you want when it comes to the right person, Oliver. Does she know that?”

“I’m kind of afraid I’ll scare her off,” he confessed, looking down for a moment and then back up at her.

“I wish I could tell you one way or the other, but right now, you probably know the person she became better than I do.” She admitted.

“Well. I’ll be patient,” he said quietly. “She’s worth the wait.” 

“I’m glad to hear that,” she nodded, smiling a little more, “and I’m glad she found one of the good guys.”

A smile tugged at his mouth, as well. “Thank you.” 

“I do reserve the right to take that back if I need to,” she warned, arching her eyebrows.

“Duly noted.” Oliver nodded.

“Can I ask you something else?” She asked, straightening.

“Absolutely.” 

“Gabe, her father,” Moira said, “do you know how he is? Chloe mentioned him in passing but...”

“Yeah, I met him at Thanksgiving,” he admitted.

“Oh,” she relaxed a little, “so he’s doing well?”

“He seems okay,” Oliver said softly. “He was very nice.” 

“I’m glad to hear that,” she admitted, smiling and relaxing against her chair.

“Do you think you’ll be getting in touch with him?” 

“I would like to,” she said quietly, “but I don’t want to disrupt his life.”

He chewed the inside of his cheek, falling silent for a moment. “I just know that if I loved a woman enough to marry her, and I never knew what happened to her...” His chest tightened a little. “Just...think about it?” 

“I don’t think Chloe will let me out of it,” she said, “but I can’t blame him for not wanting to see me, leaving them the way I did...” she sighed softly.

“Maybe he’ll surprise you,” he suggested.

“Maybe he will,” she smiled a little, nodding at him.

“And you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like.” He paused. “Both of you.”

“Thank you,” she told him, taking a deep breath, “I have been out for years and frankly, I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Well. Whatever I can do to help.” 

“I think you are already doing a lot,” she smiled softly at him. 

“Still.” He shrugged.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. 

“You’re welcome.” He smiled.

Chloe walked back into the dining room a moment later and smiled a little when she saw them talking, “done,” she said quietly, taking her seat back next to her mom. 

Oliver smiled at her and raised his eyebrows a little. “Why don’t I put on some more coffee and tea?” he suggested, rising to his feet and starting to gather the dishes.

“I can help,” Chloe suggested, “you can stay right there,” she smiled at her mom when she started to get up too. 

Moira nodded a little, watching them with a smile as they began clearing the table. 

Chloe picked up their plates then followed Oliver to the kitchen, taking a deep breath, her talk with Lois had been rushed but it was definitely good to get her blunt perspective on things sometimes.

“How ya doing?” he asked softly, when they were out of Moira’s earshot and in the kitchen.

“Okay,” she breathed, “sorry for leaving you, I just wanted to call Lois before it got too late there.”

“It’s all right,” he assured her.

“Everything okay?” She asked, setting the dishes down carefully. 

“Everything’s fine,” he said, nodding and doing the same before turning to face her. 

“Glad to hear it,” she said quietly, reaching for his hand. 

He smiled and took her hand wordlessly, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“Did I tell you you’ve been amazing yet?” She asked, smiling softly. 

“Maybe once or twice,” he teased, searching her eyes.

“Well, that’s not enough,” she told him, tiptoeing and kissing his cheek. 

“That helps.” He smiled, lifting his free hand to cup her cheek. 

“That’s easy,” she said, lowering her voice and smiling up at him. 

Oliver dipped his head, kissing her softly on the lips. 

She squeezed his hand, kissing him back and smiling softly against his lips.

“How’s Lois?” he asked her a moment later. 

“Good,” she nodded, smiling, “she wants to come and see my mom, but I don’t think she’s ready for that yet.”

Oliver nodded. “She’ll get there.” 

“I know, and I think seeing Lois will be a good way to ease her into seeing dad again.” She said quietly. 

“I think you’re probably right,” he agreed.

“Glad to hear it,” she grinned softly.

Oliver couldn’t help but grin back. 

She leaned in and kissed him again then pulled back, “okay, tea.”

He nodded, his eyes bright. “Tea for three.” 

“I’ll start with the dishes,” she told him turning to the sink.

He gazed at her for a moment, soft smile on his face. “This is nice,” he said quietly, as he went about filling the kettle with water.

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly, “makes me wish I didn’t have to go back.”

His chest tightened at that and he looked down for a moment. “What if you didn’t? Have to, I mean.” 

She paused, her own chest tightening, “I have my job and school,” she said quietly. 

“You don’t think they’d let your hours transfer?” 

“Probably,” she said, turning to look at him and chewing on her bottom lip, “but what about Mrs. Kent?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted quietly, meeting her gaze.

She let out a breath and pursed her lips together, then turned back to the dishes. 

He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. “It was just a thought,” he said softly.

“I know,” she whispered, “but there is a lot to consider.”

“Yeah, there is,” he agreed, falling silent as he poured the hot water into three mugs.

“Especially now,” she said quietly, sighing softly as she slid the rest of the dishes into the dishwasher.

He was silent for a few more seconds, and then he moved up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. “We’ll work it out somehow,” he murmured.

Her face softened and she lifted her head, pressing her lips to his cheek and nodding, “and if I go back, you will visit a lot, right?”

“Wild horses won’t be able to keep me away.” He smiled softly, arms tightening around her a little more. “And there’s no pressure. This is your choice.” 

She smiled and wrapped her arms over his, nodding and hugging his arms, “good to know.”

Oliver closed his eyes, resting his head against hers.

Chloe sighed softly leaning back against him and relaxing a little, “by the way,” she said quietly. 

“Hmm?” He nuzzled his nose against her cheek.

“You have been really amazing through all of this,” she whispered with a smile as she opened her eyes to look at him.

He chuckled lightly and kissed her mouth. “Thank you.”

She kissed him back then turned to face him, “would you prefer if I slept with her tonight, or would you be okay with us leaving the door open?”

“Whatever you want to do,” he said, resting his hands on her shoulders. 

“Okay,” she whispered, nodding, “I will see how she feels,” she whispered once more then kissed him softly.

He nodded, too, returning the kiss and leaning his forehead against hers. 

She brushed her nose against his and hugged him to her then smiled, “I should go take her the tea.”

Oliver drew in a breath, pressing another quick kiss to her cheek. “All right.” 

Chloe brushed her hands over his side as she pulled away then smiled softly, turning to the counter and picking up one of the cups of tea, she was scared of letting her mom sleep, especially on her own, because she was afraid she just wouldn’t wake up, but at the same time, she was exhausted and couldn’t wait to be able to lay down too.

He watched her go, his chest tightening a little. He wished there was more that he could say or do to comfort her, but he didn’t know what, or how. 

* * *

It took them another hour or so before making it to bed, Moira had insisted that Chloe didn’t need to stay with her, but Chloe had insisted on at least leaving a phone next to her mother before agreeing to sleep in the next room. 

Selfishly she wanted to spend some more time with Oliver, but that didn’t mean she still wasn’t worried. 

By the time she made her way into his room, he was already in bed, and she couldn’t help but smile, “quick shower,” she said quietly, closing the door halfway before making her way around the bed.

He smiled back, nodding. “Showering alone isn’t nearly as much fun,” he said lightly.

“You do have a point there,” she told him quietly, grinning softly as she slid under the covers.

“She asleep?” he asked, turning over onto his side so he was facing her.

“Pretty close to it when I left,” she nodded, turning to face him again, “I guess she’s been out for so long, it’s not unusual for her to get tired quicker than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he agreed.

“How are you?” She asked, brushing her fingers over his bare back as she wrapped an arm around him.

“I’m good,” he assured her, lifting his hand to her face and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “How are _you?_ ” 

“Good too,” she whispered, leaning into his touch, “as chaotic as the past few days may have been, it feels like things are finally falling into place.”

He smiled softly at that, searching her eyes. “Good,” he said quietly.

“I agree,” she nodded, leaning in and brushing her nose against his.

He kissed her softly, resting his head on her pillow as his thumb stroked her cheek.

She kissed him back then smiled, “it’s weird.” She whispered.

“What is?” he asked.

“We’ve been together all this time but... I kinda missed you.” She said quietly.

He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Yeah, I get that.” 

She let out a breath, relieved, “and you don’t think I’m a clingy psycho?”

Oliver chuckled softly. “Not at all,” he promised, kissing her forehead. 

“Good,” she smiled, shifting closer and tightening her arm around him.

He closed his eyes, wrapping her arm around her, as well. “I think you’re amazing,” he murmured. “You know that, right?” 

She pressed her lips to his jaw and took a deep breath, “I’m really lucky you think so.”

“Yeah?” he murmured, stroking her hair.

Chloe wrinkled her nose and smirked, “right I don’t think I told you you’re amazing.” She teased.

“I love you.” His voice was quiet, but firm, assured. 

Chloe paused at that, holding her breath. It was crazy, all things considered, they had only known each other for a few months and with all the time she had lost when it came to her mom, she shouldn’t let this happen with Oliver too.

It still scared her, all the feelings, but she meant it each and every time she told him he was amazing, he was. In every sense of the word. “I love you,” she whispered back, her voice not nearly as firm as his, but she meant it.

He held his breath for a moment, then kissed her softly, his hand threading in her hair. He hadn’t been planning to say it yet--he’d even admitted that much to her mother. But he hadn’t been able to hold back. He hadn’t anticipated she might actually return the feeling--or the words. 

Her chest was tight as she kissed him back, shifting even closer as she lifted her head to kiss him better.

Oliver smiled against her mouth, brushing his nose against hers lightly as the kiss ended. His eyes were brighter than they had been in a very long time. 

The look on his face wasn’t quite like anything she’d seen before, she couldn’t help but smile back at him as she lifted a hand to cup his cheek.

He leaned into her touch immediately, holding her gaze.

She relaxed a little, half laying on him as she brushed her nose against his. Leaving for DC and not having him there wasn’t just going to be hard, it would be pretty impossible.

“You tired?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, we _should_ just sleep anyway,” she added very quietly.

His eyes widened a little. “I wasn’t...I mean your mom’s just across the hall.” 

“I know,” she made a face, shifting and laying her head against his shoulder, “it would be weird.”

“Very weird,” he agreed, even as he kissed her softly once more.

She kissed him back just as softly, tightening her arm around him once more.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t do this much at least,” he murmured against her mouth.

“As long as we don’t start anything we can’t finish,” she agreed, smiling against his lips before kissing him once more.

“Deal.” He nodded slightly, slowly deepening the kiss for a moment before breaking it in order to breathe. 

She pulled back too and arched her eyebrows, “did I also mention you are pretty irresistible?” 

“Am I?” He smirked a little. “Because you’re pretty irresistible yourself, Gorgeous.” 

“You definitely are,” she nodded, brushing her nose against his, “even if that’s not a good thing right now.”

He smiled again, kissing her once more before laying his head down on her pillow. “Let’s get some rest,” he suggested. 

Unable to stop herself, she kissed the corner of his mouth once more before taking a deep breath and laying back down on her pillow too.

He rubbed her back gently, kissing her temple. “Night,” he whispered.

“Night,” she whispered back, shifting and pressing her nose against his neck before sighing softly and closing her eyes as she relaxed.


	13. Chapter 13

  
  


It took them a couple more weeks before they left California, but not to go back to DC, this time, they went to Metropolis. 

Chloe had told her dad about her mom being back after a very long conversation with Moira, and then after a long phone call with Gabe, he decided he wanted to see her again. Chloe wasn’t surprised, she knew that her dad had never gotten over her mom, she had broken his heart when she left, especially because he couldn’t understand _why_ she had, and now he at least had an idea, even if Chloe didn’t think it really made sense to him yet. 

Oliver had offered to fly them all to Metropolis on his jet and that they could all meet at the building he owned in Downtown Metropolis rather than Smallville to make things less uncomfortable for her parents. 

The jet had just landed about twenty minutes ago and now they were in Oliver’s SUV, where his driver was taking them to the apartment, “how are you feeling?” Chloe asked her mom quietly, her hand wrapped around hers.

“Nervous,” Moira admitted just as quietly, squeezing Chloe’s hand a little. “I know he says he wants to see me, but I’m not sure he really understands...” 

“I don’t think he does either,” she whispered, “but the best person to explain everything to him is you, mom.”

“I know. That’s why I agreed to come here.” 

“He loves you,” Chloe whispered, “you know that, right?”

“He did, once upon a time. It doesn’t mean he still does,” Moira said quietly.

“I’m not saying you two should pick up where you left off, I’m not trying to push you in any way,” Chloe said, squeezing her mom’s hand, “but I can tell you that he never moved on.”

She drew in a deep breath, nodding. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“You’ll be okay,” Chloe whispered, leaning in and kissing her cheek softly before sitting back against her seat.

Moira squeezed her hand lightly once more, nodding and looking out the window.

“How much longer?” Chloe asked Ollie, who was sitting on her other side.

“Just a few minutes,” he assured her.

“Is it close to the Planet?” She asked, trying to keep the conversation going to try and distract her mom.

“Very,” he said, nodding, a smile tugging at his mouth. 

“It won’t be long before Lois is knocking at the door, then,” she grinned softly.

“Except I didn’t tell her where it was,” he said with a short chuckle.

“She’ll find it,” Chloe smirked softly, “trust me.”

“I have no doubt. I think she has radar when it comes to you,” Oliver teased.

“Just shared DNA,” she grinned a little then glanced at her mom, “she can’t wait to see you too.”

“It’ll be good to see her, too. It’s been a long time.” 

“And she missed having you around as much as I did,” Chloe whispered, smiling a little as the car pulled to a stop.

Moira smiled faintly and slowly climbed out of the car a moment later. 

Oliver offered her his arm, then moved to the other side of the car to meet Chloe, offering her his other arm. 

Chloe couldn’t help but grin softly at him, taking his arm and nodding a little, “missed the cold?” She teased.

“Not even a little,” he said with a smirk.

She hugged his arm and stepped closer to keep him warm as they walked into the building together, her eyes widening, “you own the _clocktower_?” She asked when she realized which building it was.

He grinned down at her. “Gotta have a place with a good view of the city.” He winked at her. 

“I’d say this place fits the bill,” Moira commented.

“No kidding,” Chloe arched her eyebrows, “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of it.” 

“Guess you’ll be getting your wish.” 

“Seems to be happening a lot lately,” she smiled up at him then took a deep breath as they made their way to the elevator. Now she just hoped her mom and dad would be happy again and everything would be pretty much perfect.

* * * 

Over an hour later, Oliver led Chloe through the apartment, leaving Gabe and Moira alone in the living room to talk. “So what do you think?” he asked.

Her stomach was still in knots as they walked away, seeing her parents hug each other had been heartbreaking and overwhelming, and she knew there was so much they had to work through, but she had been able to tell they were both relieved, “I think its good,” she whispered, taking a deep breath, “what do you think?”

“It definitely seemed good. They were good vibes,” he said softly, pulling her into his arms after he shut the door behind them. 

She wrapped her arms around him and smiled, relaxing that he thought so too, “yeah,” she whispered, “I was mad at her for so long for breaking his heart,” she said quietly, “but I guess it broke her heart too.”

He kissed her cheek, gently rubbing her back. “And yours,” he murmured.

Chloe nodded and took a deep breath, “it made it easier for me, understanding why,” she whispered, “hopefully it will for him too.”

Oliver nodded, as well. “You know, I think it’s all going to be okay.”

“What makes you say that?” She whispered, lifting her head to look at him.

“Just a gut feeling,” he admitted, shrugging a little.

“I will trust your gut feeling,” she smiled, tiptoeing and brushing her nose against his.

He grinned, kissing her softly on the mouth. “Good.”

She kissed him back and nodded, “and it helps to see you are getting along with my family too,” she whispered, “because if I have any say in it, you will be around each other a lot.”

“I’d like that,” He said quietly, his voice sincere.

Chloe held her breath and nodded a little, lifting her hand to cup his cheek, “so would I.”

Oliver leaned into her touch, holding her gaze for a long moment, then kissing her once more. 

She kissed him for a moment then pulled away, taking a deep breath, “I love you.” She whispered.

He smiled softly. “I love you, too, Chloe,” he whispered back. 

Her face softened a little and she nodded, “I feel like my parents wasted so much time, I don’t want to do the same.”

“We won’t,” he assured her, his expression filled with warmth.

“Good,” she breathed, smiling up at him as she brushed her finger over his cheek.

He smiled back at her, capturing her lips once more. He had no intention of letting her go.

Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she kissed him back with no intention of letting him go either. In fact, she had already made up her mind and she had no plans to go back to DC, she could find another job and transfer schools, but she wasn’t going to waste time away from him. She just hadn’t told him that yet.

“So what now?” he asked softly, as the kiss ended a few moments later. 

“Now we wait,” she whispered, holding his gaze, “and hopefully we will have reason to celebrate soon enough.”

“I’d say we already do,” he murmured.

“Even beyond this,” she told him, smiling softly.

“Got it.” He smiled back.

“But for now,” she smirked a little, “why don’t you show me the rest of your room?”

Oliver smirked back at her, shaking his head a little and tugging her farther into the room. “The master bathroom has a hot tub.” 

“A hot tub?” She asked, eyes widening as she walked with him.

“Mm-hmm.” He grinned brightly.

“Show me,” she told him, grinning back.

“Love to.” He winked, tugging her gently into the bathroom and flipping on the light.

“Woah,” she said, eyes widening even more when she saw the _size_ of the hot tub, nevermind that, the size of the _bathroom_.

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her expression. “Like it?” he teased softly.

“Can’t wait to try it,” she told him, arching her eyebrows as she looked up at him.

He groaned at that. “Tease,” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss her.

She kissed him back for a second then pulled away, “I’m the tease? You’re the one with the hot tub!”

“We.” He raised his eyebrows a little. 

“We?” She asked, confused.

“Well, my place is your place.” He bit his lip.

Her chest tightened at that and she nodded, “I might take you up on that.”

“Anytime,” he whispered. 

“No, I mean it.” She said quietly, biting on her bottom lip.

Oliver cocked his head to the side. “You mean...”

“Yeah,” she whispered, “I mean, if you’re still okay with it and... I haven’t really figured out anything yet but...”

“Yeah. Yeah, of _course_. I’m more than okay with it.” He couldn’t help but grin.

She grinned back at him and let out her breath, “I need to cancel my classes and, I might not be able to transfer this semester and then I need to talk to Mrs. Kent but, I want to be closer to you and I want to help you and the others with what you’ve been doing.”

“I can probably pull whatever kind of strings might be helpful if you want,” he offered, winding his arms around her.

“Thank you,” she nodded, “I will give it a try first,” she smiled a little as she wrapped her arms around him too.

“All right. Sounds good.” He kissed her.

Chloe relaxed and nodded, kissing him back. Sounded really good.


End file.
